Black Rose King
by Vergil Diva's chevalier
Summary: Diva and Saya are ready to finish their battle, but the arrival of a more dangerous foe puts this feud on hold until they manage to defeat it. If they can. Rated M for violence, language, and very vague references to sex. Refered to simply as mating.
1. Black rose

"Here we go." Diva spoke while cutting her hand for the last time.

Saya did likewise.

They stood still for a moment; not even _them_ knowing if they were just letting the blood run down their blades or if it was giving a second for each of them to prepare for this.

But when the moment ended they ran forward and stabbed at each other all the same…

Neither of them was afraid to die now.

Saya's whole mission in life was to exterminate every last Chiropteran so that they could never hurt humans again. And she herself was a chiropteran.

Diva, who had until recently only cared about herself, now only cared about her babies. And if she killed Saya with her blood she knew that Nathan could take care of them for her.

Neither of them was afraid to die, and were perfectly willing to let the other kill them, so long as _both _of them died.

But the seemingly inevitable finish to this age-old battle suddenly ground to a screeching halt when they saw a man walking down the middle aisle of the opera theatre.

But this alone wouldn't have made them miss a blink.

In fact, they probably wouldn't have even been able to see him, with all the Chiropterans that were running around down there.

The thing that _did _make them stop and look on was the fact that the chiropterans down in the seats had lined up along the row and were actually bowing on the side as he gracefully walked down the aisle.

He was obviously a chiropteran himself, as he would otherwise have been torn to shreds the moment he entered the huge room, but neither of the twins recognized him.

The man was easily a few heads taller than both of them and his posture seemed like that of a statue; his back was perfectly upright and his shoulders were spread wide as if he was some kind of royalty walking into a grand ball.

His clothes consisted of expensive-looking black pants, an open white shirt with the collar standing straight up, a black ascot that seemed out of place in this century, and a silky-smooth black coat that would have looked like a trench coat if it hadn't seemed as if it were made by every single famous designer in history to be an entirely different kind of garment in its own right.

His shoes seemed to be almost boot-like in their endurable look but, like everything else, were expensive-looking.

Of course, neither of them cared about any of this right now.

What they _did _care about was the fact that the chiropterans were making way for him as if he were their king or something.

Diva already didn't like him.

He had a kind of shifty grin that looked like it was just a way to hide his smirking personality, and she didn't like it when people looked down on her.

"Hmph."

That was the first thing the man let out, as if he were disappointed in them.

"You two look so inane, quarreling like that." He spoke while making his way to the stage.

"Who are you?" Saya asked, being the less furious and more cautious of the two.

"Me? My name is not really that vital actually."

His shoes made hollow-like sounds as he made it the base of the stage, looking at its elevated height as if it were an insult to him.

The man looked at a nearby chiropteran and it instantly lurched over to him, lying down in front of the mysterious stranger.

He stepped on the ten-foot tall killing-machine as if it were actual stairs and then stepped onto the stage.

"Then what do you want?" Saya continued, not letting her guard down.

"So inquisitive. And you haven't even introduced _yourself _yet. Where _have _children's manners gone these days?"

Saya was starting to get more irritated than she was cautious.

"You haven't told us your name yet and you're already commenting on us. Isn't _that _kind of rude?"

He gave a kind of short mocking laugh before shrugging slightly and opening his eyes which the twins just noticed he'd held close until now.

Instead of an iris, he simply seemed to have large pupils in his eyes, though whether that was because he did or because he actually had black irises they couldn't really tell.

"True enough. Very well then, my name is Alessandro Noirroi. What, may I ask, are your names?" He spoke with a formality befitting his apparently arrogant attitude.

Saya narrowed her eyes a bit, but answered.

"Saya Otonashi."

His eyes opened a bit widely after hearing that and Saya was genuinely surprised.

For someone whose name she'd only known for a few seconds, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would be easily surprised.

"I see…'Saya' hm? And you?" He asked Diva, now looking at her.

She'd been observing him like a cat does a guest whom they don't want in "their" house.

Her sword's blade aimed horizontally.

"I'm killing you." She spoke while dashing forward and stabbing out at his heart.

His grin became more smirk-like and he grabbed the tip of the blade before it could pierce his clothes, stopping Diva's attack instantly, and knocking the normally childish and unshakable girl into a momentary stupor.

Even if he _had _been a chevalier, he wouldn't have been able to stop her; Chevaliers weren't as strong as Queens.

"Heh. I should've guessed you'd be the impulsive one." He spoke with a kind of dark humor before turning away from her, still holding the blade, and hurled her all the way across the opera hall to crash into a wall.

Alessandro looked down in seemingly amused surprise as he realized that though he'd only been holding the blade with three fingers, it had slipped from _Diva's _grasp as opposed to his.

"Ah well. Men naturally have more upper-body strength than women." He mused before turning back towards Saya and tossing the sword over his shoulder.

"I hope that you're a hint more patient than your dear sister."

With Diva no longer next to her with a sword Saya could now completely focus on Alessandro and brought her sword up, though that's all she did.

"What _are _you?! No Chevalier could or would throw a Queen like that."

His grin rose even more into a smirk.

"Isn't it obvious?"

She simply looked at him, not letting her body lose its focus.

"Come on. Doesn't anyone play chess anymore? Chevalier is French for knight. They're below the Queens. What's the most important piece in the entire game?"

He looked up in the air as if he were a teacher asking a question everyone in the class would know.

When she still didn't answer he turned away from her again.

"I mean, sure. The Queen's the most _powerful _piece in the game. But you don't lose when you put the queen in check now do you?" He asked while looking over his shoulder at her.

"That doesn't make any sense. I've read Joel's diary, and it never once mentioned anything about a Chiropteran King."

He gave a silent laugh as his body moved a bit as if it wanted to lunge towards her.

"That's because Kings weren't 'superior' over Queens."

Alessandro turned back towards her and actually had a bit of a scowl.

"The kings are stronger, don't need blood, and when they mate with a Queen their children get stronger with each new generation." The increasingly furious man said as he virtually stamped towards her.

Saya held her ground for a few seconds but then retreated, still holding her sword up in front of her.

"As far as individuals go, Kings are every bit more superior to Queens as Lions are to Cats. But…as far as _species _as a whole go… well. You've got us beat there." He said while whipping to look away from her again.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her with the ferocity of an animal.

"A single King can kill both Queens on his own. As we can stay awake longer than you can, even if we just waited until you fell asleep it's still impossible for you to win."

"And _chevaliers_," he spat, seeming even more furious at them.

", they couldn't even make us break stride."

His eyebrows moved upwards as if out of amusement.

"But the thing about Kings is that, like males in a pride of Lions, or in a pack of Wolves, we have an unfortunate tendency to try and fight the other king. And since Kings are born with the exact same strength, we also tend to kill _each other_ in the process."

Saya felt something move, as if she'd just pushed something off of her, and yet it didn't feel like it was actually her.

"Because of that, Kings, as a result of our selfishness, almost made the entire Chiropteran species go extinct. So, as far as a part of the species goes, we're the lowest of the low. That's why we were replaced by _chevaliers _as mates. Queens can create their own Chevaliers, so they could be a few winks from going into their deep sleep, grab any of the multiple chevaliers the other one has, have a little tussle with them and bam. There you go."

The way he spoke the last few sentences seemed more like that of a disgruntled teenager who just broke up with their ex than that of an age-old living being.

"If you hate us all so much, why didn't you come after us earlier?"

"I couldn't. Though Kings can stay awake longer than Queens, when we sleep, we sleep for a _much _lengthier period of time. Add to that I don't legally exist. So this whole human system based on birth-certificates and the like doesn't bode too well with me. As a result, I don't have any money to my name and, more importantly, I don't have a way to get onto airplanes or anything. You bitches move around more than a moth on one of those big neon signs in Vegas."

His laugh following this most recent comment seemed to recede his hatred.

Alessandro shrugged and started walking towards Saya again, now at a calm, smooth pace.

As she prepared to strike out though she had that moving feeling again, but instead this time she felt as if she were jumping towards something.

So when both of them noticed Diva lunging up at him, sword again in hand, she knew what the feeling had been.

However, he simply spun around, swatting at her while in mid-spin, and then finished it and continued towards Saya as if he'd been dancing.

He'd just knocked away a girl who'd killed hundreds of innocent people just because she was bored without even paying her any heed.

This time though, she was hit into one of the walls of the stage itself and she struggled to get out of it, looking for where she'd dropped her sword this time.

Saya slashed at him herself, trying to use this as an attempt to take advantage of his hopefully-off-balance state.

It didn't work.

He kicked her sword and she could almost feel the metal crying out in protest at the force that had just hit it; one more hit would break the whole thing in half.

His attack had also knocked her back several feet, right into one of the towers.

She didn't have anywhere else to go, and he was still coming.

"Hey!" Diva yelled while running and swinging at him at the same time.

He laughed and dodged her attack, spinning around and then kicking her in the head, sending her skidding across the floor, over to the base of the stairs of the tower.

Saya again tried attacking him, but this time he hit her in the stomach, knocking her off her feet and hitting her back over to her previous position.

They looked at each other while trying to get up and their eyes locked for a second.

"Haha. You know, this I really kind of pathetic. I mean sure, Queens aren't supposed to be able to kill a King, but you two aren't even _hitting _me! How the Queens have fallen."

"You talk too much." Diva said impatiently while starting to get up.

He kicked a piece of the wall at her and hit her shoulder, sending a crack throughout the hall.

She didn't even give a cry of pain though; Diva just swept it away and tried to push herself up again.

Both sisters got up at the same time and looked at him with equally-determined gazes.

"Oh? Both of you?" He asked, momentarily losing his grin.

Neither of them answered him and his grin returned.

"Sounds interesting."

Their swords came down and hit the floor of the stage, the blades pointed back.

"When we're done with this, we'll finish our fight as well." Saya spoke to Diva without taking her gaze from Alessandro."

"Hmph. Fine"

Then they started walking towards him, gradually becoming faster.

His grin widened as Alessandro kept stepping back to prolong the moment.

The sisters' blades aimed at him and they crossed over to the other's side, each yelling as they attacked him in unison.

* * *

Right now I'm really just trying this story out. If anyone likes it I'll keep going. As to the other stories I'm really just waiting until I get the "spark" again, and then I'll get back into the quick updating routine again. Thanks everyone whose reading the other stories who're waiting so patiently.


	2. Separation season

The blades crossed, forming an "X" that would have cut through Alessandro had he still been there.

But he wasn't; he flipped over their blades and kicked them both square in the back before he spun again and landed gracefully on the ground.

The twins, however, did not land so softly, and were sent flying face-down into the stage floor.

"Heh. If the only thing that you two can do together is try to attack me at the same time, you might as well just stay down."

They didn't listen.

Saya got up and ran at him again, slashing at him horizontally.

He jumped up over the blade and kicked her in the chest, knocking her clean-off the stage.

But her attack hadn't been the main course.

Diva had positioned herself behind Saya's legs and as her sister was knocked away she stabbed upwards at the still-airborne Alessandro, who literally had nowhere to run.

This however, didn't seem to be a problem for him, as he simply _kept _rising until he was high enough to dodge her blow, and landed on the sword, standing on it.

"You can thank Kill Bill for this one."

Then he flipped again, kicking Diva's chin and shooting her off the stage once again, though this time she managed to keep herself from being hit all the way into the back wall.

The sisters didn't stop though; they instantly lined up next to each other and ran down the aisle towards the stage again, swiping at Alessandro's feet.

He sighed before hopping up a distance even a human could and then landed on their blades, keeping the twins from withdrawing them.

"Is that really all you've got?"

Then he pushed his feet towards them with enough force to send both of them back out into the seats.

"This is dramatic and all, a real Rocky moment of determination. But you two aren't _doing _anything. You're just scrambling around hacking at me whatever chance you get. You call _that _a strategy?"

Diva managed to free herself from the seats, but Saya didn't have enough strength to get out so quickly.

She glared up at him, not even the slightest bit intimidated.

His grin widened into a feral snarl.

"Haha. A girl with spirit. Okay then. Let's make this a bit more interesting."

Then he snapped his fingers and the Chiropterans who had until recently been bowing patiently on the edge of the aisles stood up and glared at Saya, their eyes glowing red.

As Saya freed herself they ran at her, seeming intent on tearing her to shreds.

Diva leapt back up onto the stage, not seeming to notice it, or not caring.

"I hate it when people talk more than I do." She stated, irritated.

His face changed into feign-shock for a moment.

"Then why don't you silence me?"

She grinned herself.

"Gladly."

She chased after him, sending a flurry of thrusts and slashes at the arrogant Chiropteran-man. But he wasn't getting hit by any of them.

Alessandro would either block the attacks with his hands or dodge them entirely.

He jumped up over her head and twisted, kicking her in an aerial-roundhouse and hitting her once again into a wall.

This time though he caught her sword and looked at it for a second before licking the length of it, cutting his tongue in the process, and then flung the sword into her shoulder.

Almost immediately she started screaming out in pain while grasping at the sharp object.

"Because Kings are "meant" to protect and mate with Queens, our blood doesn't really _kill _anyone. But it hurts like a royal-"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Diva asked him with hatred in her voice reinforced by the pain she felt.

"You think a little sting is going to make me drool and lose consciousness? Please, it's just been a while since anything hurt me. This doesn't even qualify as a scrape compared to what else I've felt."

He seemed genuinely amused.

"Is that so?"

Then before she could even notice him move she saw a black blur and he was in front of her, a bit of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Well, let's see how much we can remind you of then."

With that he grabbed a handful of Diva's hair and spat his blood into one of her eyes.

She shrieked as the blood felt like it boiled through her skull and then her brain.

Diva felt fingers softly trail down her body until they reached a specific area in her stomach.

"Let's see, this should be the right place."

Then he bit his free hand and stabbed it into her stomach, "injecting" his blood into her intestines.

She screamed louder than before.

His hand withdrew and Alessandro lifted her chin with the bloody hand; even with it not connecting with a wound it still burned.

"How about now? Is this a bit better?"

She got a sort of maniacal smile on her face and her eyes widened with madness.

"Not yet."

Then she grabbed his shoulders and bit into his neck, ignoring the magma-like feeling of his blood going down her throat as long as she could.

But she didn't feel him getting any weaker; in fact, he seemed to actually be enjoying it.

A second later he pulled her head away by tugging on her hair.

"Another reason we were removed from the little evolutionary chain is because our blood doesn't help Queens. And also, in case you didn't hear me before, we don't need blood anyway."

Her smile was gone, having left with the failure of her self-sacrificing plan.

"We can have a milliliter of blood left and still feel like a million bucks. But still…" His teeth grew much longer than either a Queen's or a Chevalier's did when they fed, and resembled the canines of a Wolf more than the fangs of a Bat.

Then his head lurched forward and he bit into her neck.

"That doesn't mean we don't enjoy the occasional little bite to eat."

It felt like she'd just been mauled by a Lion.

Her vision started to fade as her blood was drained from her body and Diva weakly pushed against him in an attempt to free herself.

The bite went on for seconds until it became a minute, and then a minute more.

But when he finally departed from her it was because he had become full, not because Diva had succeeded in pushing him away.

Her hands had fallen limp within the first thirty seconds.

"Hm. It would seem your sister is doing a tiny bit better than you are."

Diva's sleepy eyes rolled over to hazily gaze at Saya, who was starting to become overwhelmed by the Chiropterans.

"Perhaps I should tell those Chiropterans to try and mate with her. See if her children have horns."

After his perversely-sadistic comment Alessandro started laughing and she felt her lips move up in a weak scowl.

His hand came up again and began to snap, but Diva's hand somehow rose and grabbed his wrist, not physically stopping him, but interesting him enough for him to stop it himself.

"Oh? All these years you've spent trying to kill each other and now you're protecting your big sis? How touching."

"_I'm _the only one who can hurt her. I won't let something like you do it." She spoke weakly, but resolutely.

"Some 'thing'?" He asked with interest.

Her grin returned.

"A mutated worm that was too disgusting to stay in our species shouldn't be allowed to hurt one of the more evolved versions."

He scowled and punched her with enough force to crush her internal organs for several seconds.

"What the hell would the likes of _you _know about what's superior in the species?!" He snapped at her.

A few seconds went by and then he regained his composure, including his grin.

"Besides, you aren't exactly a _normal _Chiropteran yourself. Did you know that your mother was the first and only one to have a Chevalier's children? The stupid whore was more attracted to that rat of a Chevalier than she was to the opposite King. If anything, you're even lower than I am. Though… that's not really saying much. Of all the Chiropteran in our entire history, you're easily the most pathetic. Being given a name by your sister? Enslaved for years by humans? You even turned one of the scientists who were experimenting on you into your Chevalier. Your eldest one no less."

He shook her hand from his wrist and then raised it up into the air, snapping his fingers again.

At once the Chiropterans surrounding Saya converged on her and she was buried underneath them in mere seconds.

"Don't worry. As disgusting of an example of Queens as you both are, I've decided to have a bit of mercy on her. She'll be devoured as opposed to soiled. After all, our species has already been tainted by a change in its mating mannerisms. I'm not going to let the same thing happen again."

But just as he finished speaking something crashed down through the roof of the theatre and slammed into the Chiropterans.

After a few seconds Haji could be seen standing in the midst of the shocked Chiropterans, holding Saya's already-bitten body in his arms.

"Well if it isn't one of the vermin themselves." Alessandro spoke smugly.

Diva grasped out at him, but Alessandro moved away from her weak hand.

"Fine. I'll give you two a bit longer to live. I've waited for centuries after all. I can wait a few more days."

With that he bowed curtly, and then there was a black flash, and he was gone.

* * *

Ah yes, I forgot the disclaimer. I don't own anything within the Blood+ universe, though I do own Alessandro's character I suppose. Thank you Kyuubi123 for your extremely generous review. I will, evidently, continue this story. I also want to state right now that any kind of sexist comments Alessandro makes aren't just a subtle way for me to say something offensive. He is obviously disgruntled as far as the Queens/Kings thing goes and is as a result, basically a jerk towards girls. (And Chevaliers, for you people out there who happen to be ones.) But don't think the sisters won't get their own little jabs in at his ego. Haha. I'll update as soon as possible.


	3. Uprooting delayed

The unfortunate thing about having a Chiropteran's endurance is that while human beings would simply die when they sustained a certain amount of damage, Diva and Saya were not like that.

Though Saya had never become aware of just how great their ability to survive was, Diva had learned the extent of it within her first few years of life and, despite never having put much thought into it, she knew that they could be cut in half and put on meat hooks for years and still survive.

Only one sister's blood could kill the other. That's all there is to it.

As a result, she _didn't _die from the wound in her stomach that was spilling what blood she had left on the floor of the stage and she _didn't _faint from the overwhelming pain having that magma-like blood in her stomach gave her.

Because Haji had returned and Amshel had not, he must have died. And since she'd told Nathan to leave if anything had a chance of harming her babies he was gone long ago.

Drinking a human's blood can make a Queen feel better but only by drinking a Chevalier's blood can they instantly be healed, and she didn't have enough strength to heal herself.

However, Diva caught sight of Kai, the boy she'd been obsessed with for a while, running towards Saya and Haji and she licked her lips while pulling the sword from her shoulder and falling to the floor of the stage.

If she could just make it to him, his blood would give her enough strength to heal her wounds, and then she could go tear that other bastard apart.

"King, Queen _this_. Chevalier, Mate _that_. I hate people who talk too much." She mumbled to herself while clawing her way to the edge of the stage.

Suddenly she stopped moving and Diva clawed harder, not knowing why nothing was happening. But then she realized why; her hands were clawing at the air.

She growled a bit before half-throwing half-rolling herself off the stage and landing hard on the floor below.

Though now she couldn't see anyone anymore as a result of the seats getting in the way.

Diva grumbled while trying to knock the seats aside, only to realize that they were bolted to the floor, and that she was too weak to move them.

So now her hand hurt, the seats were still there, _and _she _still _couldn't see them!

"This is starting to get on my nerves." Diva spoke to the floor, irritated.

Diva continued clawing her way towards where she guessed Kai was, but hadn't been making much progress until he actually _walked _a few feet in front of her.

"I found her." He spoke grudgingly, like he had been reluctantly looking for her.

Suddenly she got a thought in her head.

"Maybe he was _looking _for me!" She thought, happy with how she'd been able to come up with that idea _completely _without anyone else's help or hints.

"Hey, come over here. I want to show you something."

Kai looked down at her, evidently not too interested in complying.

"I'll pass." He spoke through gritted teeth.

She could hear other people coming towards them and knew she didn't have long until Saya showed up as well and ruined everything.

"It's something good." She offered, absolutely sure he would take the bait.

Unfortunately for her, not everyone in the world does what you want them to do just because you say it's "good". And she was losing her patience.

"Get over here in my teeth!" She yelled ridiculously at him as the footsteps she heard coming towards them were given shape.

One of those shapes was Saya.

Then she sighed, as if Saya was some kind of a party-ruiner. Which, in a way, she was.

Her sister approached her, holding her sword which still held blood in it.

Diva looked at the blade, unable to tell if Saya's blood still remained on it, or if it just belonged to the chiropterans she had killed.

Saya stopped just out of arms reach from Diva, her sword not moving towards her sister, but not being sheathed either.

"I should kill you." She spoke simply.

Diva smiled strangely out of how ironic this was.

Minutes ago they were fighting together against someone who quite possibly wanted to do more than just kill them, and now that he was gone, Saya was back to her old tune.

"Fine then, go ahead. I don't want to keep you from your _friends_." She spoke, closing her eyes and losing her smile.

But she didn't feel anything hit her.

The longer she had to wait, the more her death was starting to gradually bother her.

Waiting for her death and growing anxious and impatient was quite possibly one of the strangest and most uncomfortable feelings she;d felt her whole life, and that was no small list.

"No."

Everyone stared at Saya in surprise, even Diva, though her expression was significantly less pronounced than the others'.

"Alessandro is too strong for either one of us to fight alone. I have no doubt about that. My mission is to kill all Chiropterans. Not just you."

Her sister sheathed the sword, though her hands still seemed tense; ready to attack if Diva did anything aggressive.

"Until we kill Alessandro, I will not kill you. That's all."

As Diva started to get up, having stored up enough energy to do so, Saya took a step forward, staring directly into her sister's eyes.

"But that does not mean I'm going to allow you to run around freely, killing whoever you want."

One of Diva's eyebrows rose.

"Oh? And how are you going to stop me from doing what I want dear sister?"

Saya closed her eyes and sighed, then brought the hilt of the sword up into Diva's chin, knocking her younger sister down and unconscious.

* * *

I know it's not a great chapter, but I forgot about having said I would update soon and decided(after someone reminded me) that I might as well add one now. To be honest I had also been having trouble with this, or I _would _have updated sooner. Right now though I am focused on finishing another story and I don't want to work on anything but that, both because I want to finish that quickly, and also because I don't want to say something in these stories that don't make sense just because I'm working on that other one. Once the other story(which is only a few chapters from being over) is finished I will be able to work on these other ones with more focus again.

Also, sorry for the strictly plant-related chapter names, it seemed like a good idea at first.


	4. Potted plant

"Are you sure about this Saya?" David asked her as the theatre was filled with Red Shield operatives; a number which had drastically increased from its previous near-hundred now that everyone knew where Diva was. Though these were regular people who had lost their families and friends to chiropterans as opposed to the military-esque kind there had been before.

Saya had never imagined there were so many of them. And that there _were _just made this decision all the harder.

On a certain level Saya was glad she wouldn't have to kill Diva now. They were sisters after all.

"But… all the things she's done. All the things she's responsible for…" Saya thought before being snapped out of her thoughts as David asked her again.

After a few seconds of deliberating she nodded her head and looked at him.

"Yes. Diva is very dangerous. We all know that. But that man, Alessandro… He _wasn't _a normal chevalier. Even when we tried to attack him at the same time, he just brushed off our attacks and swatted us away. I don't think there's any way that our group can beat him without-" Saya winced as she thought of the premise.

"Using Diva."

It was ironic that she, who was the only "weapon" the Red Shield or, rather, that the whole human _race_ had against Diva and those below her, was now going to use _Diva _as a weapon against _Alessandro_ who seemed a threat to not only humans but the whole _world_.

"A man like that; who _knows _what he's capable of?" She asked herself as a group of people ran down the aisle to them and set a strange-looking machine down.

"What's that, David?" She asked him, staring at the device which looked like a kind of container of sorts.

He looked at the thing as well as it actually unfolded itself.

It now resembled a machine meant to restrain the Hulk, albeit much smaller.

In fact, it looked like it would fit her own frame perfectly.

The metal looked like some new kind of material that had just been developed and seemed like it could withstand a neutron bomb and never lose its shine.

Restraints for the wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, hips, shoulders and neck were all oversized but some form of padding was on the inside.

"It was originally intended to restrain you, should you resist coming with us back in Okinawa. Now…"

He glanced down at Diva and most likely internally had a feeling of disgust, though his poker face expression would never reveal it.

"It will be used to restrain Diva."

Saya looked at the mechanical "holding-stretcher" and thought of how glad she was she'd decided to come with them at the beginning, if only to avoid a fate in such a thing.

The Red Shield "members" lifted her with twitching hands into the thing, which had its retrains open.

As soon as Diva was in place the hands, still eager to attack her, fell away and there was a loud metallic CLANK as the restraints snapped closed.

Saya felt herself wince as they did and Haji put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

She looked at him before gazing down at the ground.

The worlds sounds seemed to fade away as she looked at the crimson-stained carpet.

"Will she help us, even if it's to defeat an enemy stronger than all of us? She might just decide she isn't in the mood. What will happen then? Will the Red Shield make me actually kill her? Could I do that? She has murdered so many people, but to kill someone when they're locked down in a tiny prison… I don't know if I could do that." She thought in the blackness of her mind.

These and many other thoughts whirled around in her mind, threatening to push their way out; like a hurricane going through a large building.

But her internal deliberations were cut short when someone nearby began yelling.

Saya looked at where the sound had come and saw a man, one of the new "members" that she'd never seen before, snatch a handgun from someone close by and aim it at Diva's sleeping face.

"You monster!" He yelled as the finger on the trigger trembled.

She took a step towards him, knowing she should have expected this but still wishing it hadn't come.

"Wait! We need her! Please!"

His face, now starting to sweat and gazing in grief-induced madness, turned towards her, his brown hair falling among his face as if showing how much he'd been overcome by madness.

"Shut up! You're the same as that…_thing_! You are just as responsible for my wife and son's death as that monster!"

It felt hypocritical beyond all boundaries trying to deter him from attempting to kill Diva, as he had just as much a right to want her dead as Saya did herself. But they _did _need her.

"I know that. But someone far worse than the two of us is running loose and unless we get Diva's help we won't be able to defeat him! Don't you think your family would want a person like that to be put first before revenge?"

His eyes flared with even more anger and the finger started to pull on the trigger-

-but the gun fell from his hand when a fist collided with the side of his face and sent the now-unconscious man to the floor.

Kai, the puncher, brought his hand back down to his side and grinned at her.

"Don't worry about guys like that, Saya. Let's just get out of here."

Her eyes narrowed back to their original look and she felt a small smile come onto her own face.

"Right." She said while nodding, feeling incapable to stay upset with him looking at her like that.

The "stretcher" snapped closed, now resembling a container again, and Red Shield members once again picked the thing up, seeming somewhat agitated at simply transporting her but not angry enough to do anything about it.

Not after Kai's "enforcement" anyway.

Saya followed the container up the aisle, unsure where it was that they were headed now.

There weren't any leads for them to follow on Alessandro; he didn't have any known affiliates, no home, chevaliers, credit cards, or anything else.

Saya bit her lip as she acknowledged that there was no way for them to go after Alessandro.

They would have to wait for him to come after _them_.

She was vaguely aware of the remaining people in the large theatre running around, carrying the pieces of the slain chiropterans with them as they all prepared for the opera house to be bombed.

Normally Saya would have run for the exit the second she got the information, but it wasn't happening for at least another hour. Her guess was the only reason the people were carrying the pieces so frantically was because they had to get every tiny little fragment out before the air strike.

It was unlikely that even chiropterans' bodies could survive a bomb, but better safe than sorry she supposed.

Her feet stopped moving and Haji, who had been walking behind her, asked if there was a problem.

"Where are Diva's children?" She asked, looking around for them and mentally slapping herself at the same time.

"Nathan took them away during your fight with Diva. I do not know where he went."

She looked down a bit before nodding, and continued walking up the aisle, wondering if she would have to fight Diva's children as well some day.

Kai caught up with them and the three of them left the opera theatre, walking outside into the much thinner air.

Taking big breathes, Saya tried to steady her mind.

If and when Alessandro decided to attack again she had to be ready for him. And then there was the issue of getting Diva to work with them that she would have to deal with. In short, Saya would need to stay calm if she was to get through all this without a stroke.

A large truck that looked like it was a converted treasury van drove up in front of them and its back doors opened up, revealing two more Red Shield members inside. It looked to be made of the same material as the container and appeared as solid and indestructible as well.

"I wonder if they would all still be here if they knew that Diva could kill all of them within a few minutes." Saya worried, not sure if having all these extra people around was a good thing or a bad thing.

The air was cool and calmed her down as the people who had been carrying Diva's container lifted the thing up into the back, then let go.

At once the floor, surprisingly, moved in a conveyor-belt like fashion and moved the container further in until a loud click could be heard and the movement stopped.

Two large metallic "arms" jutted out of the floor and fastened themselves onto the sides of the container. These were followed by another six which did the same until the container was held still and immobile on all nine sides.

Saya stared at the truck, wondering if she had clearance or whatever it was called to go with them.

Kai, seeming to have read her mind, walked towards the truck and waved at the men inside.

"Okay guys, you can take a break now. We'll handle this." He said with a friendly but strong voice.

They seemed skeptical however, and didn't move.

"Who're you?" One of the two asked as he reached the outside of the vehicle.

"I'm part of the Red Shield to." He told them while showing them the necklace with their brother's fragment in it.

"The girl behind me is the only person who can hurt her and the tall quiet guy behind her is a bodyguard. Don't worry, we're more than qualified."

They still seemed reluctant to do anything, until David walked over to the vehicle as well and told them it was alright.

Hearing this they immediately got out of the truck and ran into the opera house, assumingly assisting the others with retrieving the chiropteran bodies inside.

"Thanks David. I thought those guys would never leave." Kai said with a grin as he got up into the back of the truck.

He nodded in a quiet response as Saya got up into the truck as well, followed by Haji.

"Luis and I will be driving the truck. We will take it to a facility nearby where we can plan on what to do next."

Saya nodded and David walked away towards the front of the truck as Luis himself came up to the back munching on an apparently delicious snack.

"Now don't you three do anything mischievous now. Make sure to buckle your seatbelts and keep your arms and legs inside at all times." He joked in-between bites.

Saya felt herself smile as Kai sighed.

"Yeah, whatever. We're not five ya know." He spoke in feign exhaustion.

Luis only gave a loud hearty chuckle as he walked towards the front of the truck as well and the doors closed, the back now lit by lights inside the truck itself.

Through the "talk hole" they heard the previous two occupants of the front get out and both David and Luis get in, closing the doors behind them.

Saya looked at Kai, whose face glanced at the contained and then looked back up at her.

"So looks like our return to Okinawa is going to be postponed _again _huh?" He tried to joke.

She nodded, thinking about "Omoro"; the bar their father had owned and the one that the two of them would run when they finally got home.

"Yes. But we'll get back there eventually. I can't wait till we do." She spoke, feeling a bit happier now that they were talking like this.

"Just promise me you won't eat all the food when I make it." He spoke with a laugh in his voice.

Before Saya could retort Luis leaned towards the middle, his smiling face staring at them through the grating.

"Don't be _silly_! That's _my _job!"

Both of them laughed as the truck pulled away from the curb and then drove down along the road, taking them somewhere she hoped Alessandro couldn't find them.


	5. Memory tree

She cried at how cold it was.

There was something on her, but she still felt really cold.

It was really cold.

Why was it really cold?

* * *

"I'm hot." She told the room, knowing it wouldn't answer her.

The light that came through the open holes in those hard things surrounding her were even hotter than _she _was.

It made her hot. Her inside.

It was…dry.

"When does he come back? I want water."

* * *

"Hungry." Her stomach complained with its noise.

She wished she could eat the walls, or swallow the sunlight. But she couldn't.

Moonlight might taste better. But she couldn't eat that either.

"I'm hungry. I want something."

"It's so long from when he comes back. I don't think I'll last that long."

"I'm real hungry."

* * *

"I'm freeeeezing!" She complained, now having regretted sleeping by the window, covered in cold white stuff.

It looked really pretty when she just gazed at it, but it was really, really cold.

The white stuff looks soft, but it goes away when she lays down in it.

"Why does it go away? Does it not want me?"

The big rag-thing that covered her wasn't long enough anymore and the things at the bottom of her…feet? They were out in the cold more than anything.

Her face is really cold too, her hair feels frozen.

Everything was real cold.

* * *

"Name?" She asked him, wanting to know what such a thing was.

He had really-tight rags on. But they looked much more complete than the simple thing she had.

They looked nicer and more colorful too. Like they were something better.

They even went _on _him, like they were only his.

"Yes, a name is what people call you. It gives you something to call your own." He said, his…hands? They were behind his back.

"You'll tell me yours?" She asked, eager.

"Correct. But you must give me something in return."

Her head tilted, curious.

"I think that is what the word is." She thought.

"In return? I do not have anything. Just this." The girl spoke, holding the big rag up a bit but not too much, as it was still cold.

"You do. If you do not fight against me, I will tell you my name."

"Fight?"

"If you cooperate."

"Cowoparate?"

"Never-mind. What do you choose? What do you _pick_?"

The girl bites her lip, the thing outside her mouth.

A few seconds pass and she looks up at him.

"May _I _have a name?" She asks, nervous at the answer.

His eyes, the things you look with, seemed colder than the white stuff, and much less pretty.

"No."

Her own eyes look back down.

"Oh…um, okay." She says, trying to smile, the thing you do by moving your mouth up.

"Amshel."

"Am…shell?"

"Yes."

She nods and tries to be happy.

"Okay."

He walks towards her, his hands still behind his back.

"Now, then." He speaks, not happy but looking weird.

Like he is curious, but scary.

"Oh, right! What did you want from me?"

He begins to kneel down by her, his hands coming out from behind his back.

"Just remain still."

She spots something pretty and shiny in one of his hands.

"What's that?"

* * *

The first thing Diva noticed as she awoke was that it was dark.

The _second _thing she noticed was that she was stuck, with a lot of things holding her down.

The _third_, and most _important _thing she noticed, was that she was in a box.

It was a small box, not like the metal container she would sleep in.

She couldn't even move.

It was scary, and she didn't like it.

"Where is Saya?" Diva wonders as she tries to get out of the box.

But it won't move.

Why won't it move?

She could push down a big metal door with one hand and not even stop walking, why won't this box even _move_?

Diva struggles against the box and the things that hold her still, and it begins to shake a bit, but nothing is going away, nothing is loosening, and she starts to feel worse and worse, knowing that she can't get out of the box herself.

She whimpers, trying to push something- _anything _away.

But nothing is letting her out.

She can't get outside.

She's trapped.

And scared.

* * *

The somewhat comfortable silence was ruined when the special container began to move.

It was the slightest of movements, but it had definitely moved.

After the first time it started shaking continuously, even though it was still barely rocking back and forth and the bars and latches in the vehicle held it in the same position.

Kai seemed disturbed for some reason, but she didn't know exactly why.

There was no reason to be afraid; even _Diva_, strong as she is, can't get out of the container, or at the very least not in the state she is in now.

But it bothers Saya, not because Diva its trying to get out of the container, and not because it ruined the atmosphere of the vehicle, until-now quiet drive.

It doesn't bother her because she's only a foot or two from someone who has killed hundreds and been responsible for the deaths of millions.

And it doesn't bother her because her father, George, or Riku, her little brother, or Solomon, or Moses, Karman, Lulu, Ierene, or any of the others whom she got the chance to know in some way all died because of her own sister.

It bothers her because Saya knows that the reason Diva is shaking the container on the inside… is because she's _scared_.

"Shouldn't she be? I can only imagine how claustrophobic it is in there. And Diva doesn't even know why or how it is that she got to be in there."

They had been driving for at least half an hour before Diva had started struggling, and had been out of the city in only half that amount of time.

Everything around them looked desolate and void of any life, but still seemed as solid and concrete as the opera house had been. If not much less beautiful and ornate.

Wherever this safe house was, Saya knew it would be coming up soon.

And it was a good thing too, because it took everything she had just to try and think that her little sister, despite all that she had done, was not bolted down in a pitch-black metal box, unable to get out and scared more than Saya suspected she ever had been.

The heavy-duty truck came to a stop and Kai stood up, looking out through the mesh window.

Saya knew they had to be there because the truck's headlights were splaying some of the illumination back into the truck; suggesting it was bouncing off something in front of them.

"What the-" He began before Saya felt the tons and tons of vehicle being lifted up into the air and then thrown through something, what looked like massive metal doors being broken inward as the vehicular construct flew through the air and collided with something.

The back doors fell open and Saya gazed out with dizzy eyes through what looked to be some sort of safe house.

At the entrance, standing in the moonlight like some kind of phantom, was a familiarly-dressed person with a shifty grin.

A "path" of corpses and blood and bullets led to him and the silver light illuminated that as well, making the whole scene look like some poetic image.

"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't wait. Family get-togethers are just so much fun."

* * *

Thanks everyone(anyone) for waiting this long. I apologize that this chapter was such a long time coming but I honestly didn't know what to do with it. Luckily, since there is predictably some action in the next chapter(something I'm better at than just talking) it should definitely be here soon.


	6. Hell's planter

"What is he- ah- doing here?" She asked herself while pulling what she realized was a piece of metal from underneath a rib.

He began walking down the length of the warehouse and she knew there wasn't much time.

Saya looked over at Kai, who was unconscious with blood coming from his forehead, but alive.

Haji was already up and next to her, but she couldn't tell what condition David or Lewis were in.

"Haji, I need you to go and check on Lewis and David. Please get them somewhere safe."

"Saya…"

"Don't worry, I'm not sure how strong he is, but I'll figure something out… Please."

It took a second, but Haji nodded and ran out of the truck, which had turned over sideways, and then turned about and made it to the cab at the front.

Alessandro didn't even seem to acknowledge this; he just continued casually strolling across the bloodied, body-clad warehouse floor.

Saya grabbed one of the metal seats, now like a shelf, and pulled herself up, grabbing her sword as she did so.

"What am I going to do? There's no way I can defeat him on my own, and I'm weaker than I usually am anyway. I don't even know how to open Diva's container." She thinks before she hears Kai groaning as he wakes up.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw him holding his forehead as he stood up and looked towards her.

"Hey, Saya. What the hell happened-" Kai cut himself off when he spotted the scene in front of them, and the man who he could obviously tell was the cause of it, coming towards them.

He immediately drew out his handgun and fired at Alessandro, but, as she knew he would, the man dodged the bullet; though he did it with a dance-like spin as opposed to something less flashy.

"He's arrogant, a showoff, a sexist pig… and strong enough to kill all of us with a pinky." She thought to herself while stepping out of the reinforced-but-broken transport van.

"Kai…" She spoke while not looking back.

Though he must have been surprised at what Alessandro did, he had been fighting Chiropterans too long to go into a coma every time they did something unexpected.

"I need you to open Diva's container." Saya finished, knowing it wasn't an easy thing to ask him to do.

"But Saya, she's-"

"I know, Kai. But believe me, he can, and intends to, do a whole lot worse. We need her to beat him."

He gave an agitated sigh, but said he would do it and moved towards the "back" of the van, where Diva's container was still held completely still, albeit on what was now the wall.

Then her attention was once again completely focused on Alessandro.

"There has to be some kind of weak point that he has. Something I can use to buy us more time." She thinks as he gets ever closer.

"He may have a big ego but if I just start insulting him I'm sure he'll see through it."

Coming to the conclusion that she couldn't think of anything, Saya instead decided to take a few steps forward and give Kai some more space, should Alessandro figure out what they were up to.

"Or maybe he _already _knows and just doesn't care."

From the sounds behind her it seemed to Saya that Kai was trying as hard as he could, but wasn't making much progress.

When he swore and said there was a keyhole her suspicions were confirmed.

Though there was really no reason to expect that something meant to restrain a person who had been killing people more than a hundred years would simply have a big, shiny candy-like "open" button.

However, luckily for them, David seemed to be conscious and pushed the keys through the metal mesh that linked the two parts of the van.

She heard him scrambling with them as Alessandro closed the distance to just a few yards, and knew they didn't have that much time.

Though Saya heard Haji trying to convince David and Lewis, who were _both _apparently conscious, they began firing at Alessandro to make him stop moving.

It didn't work, however, as his dance-like dodging didn't require him to cease his approach, and he just continued, seemingly enjoying himself.

A loud clank could be heard as Kai inserted the key and twisted it, but it seemed that there was something else that he had to do to open it because he swore once again.

Saya glanced over her shoulder and saw what looked like two handles jutting out of the ceiling.

"Something you have to pull to release it maybe." She contemplated before running towards Alessandro and swinging her sword at him, which he ducked underneath and then leapt over before landing on her head.

Though she barely felt it, his playing around irritated her, the opposite of what she had intended to do at the beginning of the fight by taunting him.

Fortunately for her and her temper, Alessandro couldn't dodge the bullets that David and Lewis fired when there was nowhere to step and she heard one of them hit him, sending the chiropteran-man off her head.

At the same time she heard Haji leap up onto the "top" of the van and punch through the ceiling, hopefully pushing one of the handles out in the process, Kai apparently having followed suite as the long latches that held the container to the side of the van could be heard pulling away and letting the thing fall to the floor.

She tried not to imagine how much of a headache and sense of vertigo it would give someone who had been inside it, and returned her focus to Alessandro once again.

He was standing there with the fired bullet in his teeth, smiling.

For a second Saya wondered why he was remaining still and David and Lewis fired the last of their bullets at him.

But, unexpectedly, he made an actual effort to get hit, though he was moving his head towards every bullet.

A few seconds later she discovered that despite the various angles he had moved his head in, Alessandro had managed to catch every single one of the bullets in his teeth, which he then released his hold on and allowed the bullets to go inside his mouth and closed it.

Saya didn't understand why he was doing such a thing…

-until he moved his cheeks inward like he was going to spit and began "launching" the bullets from his mouth, catching her in the shoulder with one and apparently hitting Haji with the others.

He was, obviously, done with just dancing around and she hadn't even stood up before he had gotten passed her and knocked both David and Lewis out of the fight.

She tried to get to him as he jumped up onto the roof and struck Haji off of it, sending him far away into a wall, but when she swung at his feet he once again spun away, this time landing on the floor with one foot and kicking her with the other as he spun, finishing the "dance" with one leg crossed over the other and bowing as his coat finished flwoing downards.

Kai was the only person still near him, but she had to find a way to avert Alessandro's attention from her human sibling.

The chilly air in the warehouse seemed to allow him unnaturally-quick passage towards Kai, as he had closed the distance between them and thrown him back into her before she had even gotten the chance to fully stand up.

Her brother rolled off her, but was still stuck on the ground from the impact.

Saya forced her head up from the ground to gaze at Alessandro, as he slid a hand through the seemingly-invincible metal container and made a kind of hand-hold in it as he walked out of the van and dragged it with him until he let it clatter down, facing upwards.

She seriously doubted that he could tell what would be inside it until he scratched his ear and she remembered that Diva could hear the heartbeat of people whom she'd fed on.

"Everyone must have that same ability!" She thought out loud while picking up her sword and once again trying to strike out at Alessandro.

But he ducked under her strike as he had before and placed his hands on the ground before turning away from her and bringing a heel up into her chin, sending Saya and her sword up into the air.

She could hear Haji yelling out her name as she flew upwards through space, almost like she had while bar-jumping back in Okinawa, and her arms instinctively reached out, grasping at the air as they back then.

But the nostalgic moment ended when she descended towards the ground and was kicked out of mid-air and sent flying across the warehouse, with Alessandro catching her sword all in one motion.

She was aware of Kai and Haji rushing towards her as David and Lewis once again began firing at Alessandro, who now seemed to be dodging so fast all the evidence that was left behind of his movements were shadowy after-images as he aimed the sword up at the ceiling, the silver sheen its faded but white lights send down towards it making the sword like the grim reaper's scythe.

His grin turned into a smirk as he flicked his wrist and spun the sword in his hand, the blade now aiming downwards.

The smirk widened as he thrust downwards towards the floor, and Diva's container.

It penetrated the middle of the metal box and Saya swore she could hear Diva grunting in pain even as he reached over towards the van again and wrenched long pieces from it, sharpening one on the other and then doing likewise, followed by stabbing both down into the container.

It was barely audible, she doubted anyone but her could hear it, but she heard Diva...calling out for help.

But she didn't receive it.

Instead, he continued the process so many times and so quickly that David and Lewis had stopped firing, everyone gazing in a horrific stupor as he repeatedly penetrated the container with the sharp spear-like husks of metal torn from the vehicle, some going in from the top while others went through the front, back and sides.

In less than a minute the van had been stripped down to its most basic frame and the container looked like some sadistically grotesque and macabre iron maiden.

Saya fell down as she gazed at the horrific sight, blood now flowing from the container evenly as he backed up, checking his shoes to make sure there wasn't any blood on them even as Diva could be heard gurgling out attempts at words.

The attempts faded away within only a few seconds as Alessandro finally stoped checking his precious, expensive shoes.

She heard Kai's anger boil to the breaking point as he began firing at Alessandro with his weapon, and David and Lewis resuming theirs.

But Saya lost awareness of it after the first few shots, she just kept staring at the container with wide, blank eyes.

When Haji had finally managed to bring her back to the world Alessandro was gone and all she could do was walk over to the metal box which had almost instantly been turned from a claustrophobic cell to a hell of pain and torture.

That's all she could do as the minutes dragged on and Kai eventually began pulling at the barb-like metal poles.

Even when Haji tried to assist him, neither could pull the things from the box.

It was strange and, insanely enough, in its own twisted way, ironically amusing.

To her, as Haji and Kai breathed out their hot breath into the cold air and it rose above the metallic "thorns" the whole scene looked like an insane person's potted plant, with cruel roses sticking out, watered by blood.

Then, when she finished the thought, Saya threw up and passed out.


	7. Different rose, same plant

It had taken them three hours.

Luckily there had been some kind of electric saw nearby which apparently was brought here by the Red Shield operatives who lie dead on the floor, as it could actually cut through the advanced composite metal that the container and van were made of.

"A lot of good that did it." She thought, again staring at the Iron Maiden-box.

Haji and Kai must have carried her away from the container while she was passed out, probably to keep her away from Diva's deadly blood.

"She was stuck inside there, with all those things impaled in her, and they carried me away because I might get splashed." She though, upset.

This didn't mean she had completely forgiven Diva, or even largely forgiven her.

It was just hard to stay angry at someone, even if only for the moment, when they were experiencing something so painful.

And when David started up the saw, with how loud and angry it sounded, who knew what she thought was happening next?

But now, after all this time, he had finally managed to cut off all of the metal "spires" that jutted out of the box.

He dropped the saw onto the ground and pulled two metal slides together, then up, releasing one of the locked areas one the container, and was helped by Kai and Lewis, Haji staying away because of the blood, until all five sides had been released, the one on the bottom surely having been broken already.

Saya counted the bloody metal little twisted girders that lay on the pavement, the worst parts still inside the box.

There were more than two dozen, all twisted and grotesque, and yet thin and almost elegant.

"How could anyone _do _that to a person?" She wondered as two of the men strained hard to pull open the container, while the other aimed his gun down at it, despite the situation.

Lewis and Kai finally, with one last pull, managed to drag the top of the container off and drop the still-heavy lid on the ground.

What followed was not as she expected.

Saya had been suspecting that Diva would erupt out of the container, ready to tear anything to shreds that would dare to do such a thing to her.

But she didn't.

Diva _didn't _erupt out of the container, and she _didn't _give out animalistic sounds of bloodlust.

In fact, the only sounds that Saya heard that proved that she was _alive _were gurgling gasps; like someone choking on an under-cooked steak.

Despite herself, Saya started walking towards the container, ignoring the fact that she was stepping into what was, to her, essentially like acid.

When she stepped up next to it and gazed down, she wanted to throw up again.

"Oh, Diva…" She said while turning away for a second.

But, deciding this couldn't possibly be harder on her than it was on her younger sister, she forced her head to look back down.

The torn up girl in the container barely resembled the beautiful but deadly sibling that Saya remembered; any part that hadn't been torn apart was covered in blood from the parts that _were_.

Her sister gave no growls, no feral-like sneers. She didn't even try to bite anyone.

There was no way she _could_. As the inner portions of the "spikes" were still in her and partially lodged in the container.

The blue eye that wasn't covered in blood gazed up at her with a look she could only attribute to an abused kitten in an animal shelter.

After the eye blinked, she had altered her form…

And Kai _did _turn away and throw up.

She was wearing different clothes, had a different hair color, and other altered features from him, but, to everyone, she still resembled Riku as much as if she were _his _completetwin.

The change in forms immediately faded away; apparently she was incapable of doing even that for periods of time while this weak.

But it had dislodged some of the spears and, with tensed features, she tore her way out of the container, several of the spikes ripped from her body in mid-air as she dove through the air in a haphazard dive and landed face-down in her puddle of blood, pooled around the broken container.

Instead of a scream she just exhaled a large amount of blood, and Saya didn't know how they could possibly get her out of here now.

But when she began crawling toward the nearest corpse of a Red Shield operative Saya guessed that this wouldn't take a very long time.

So she walked over to the lid of the container and, with Haji's help, managed to pull the sword out of the metal rectangle.

After that it was just a matter of waiting.

David and Lewis began scrounging for ammunition and weapons, joined by Kai when he felt normal again, while Saya and Haji simply waited somewhere far away from Diva's blood for her to finish.

Surprisingly, as she made her way from corpse to corpse, Saya disgusted on a certain level and unable to look away on another, it actually took her at least half an hour before her wounds began to heal and she started to look as if she was actually alive again.

A full hour later, Diva was standing up again, having torn every one of the cruel metal spikes from her body and healed all of her wounds.

Something _else _was a problem, however, and Kai looked away despite himself when everyone realized that the spears had taken a good portion of her clothes with them.

Though Saya herself felt embarrassed for some reason, Diva, being Diva, didn't seem to mind, and walked towards them, still noticeably unhappy.

When she began wondering if Diva wanted to fight, however, her sister stopped walking towards them and stared at her.

"I'm going to kill him." She stated simply before starting to turn around.

But Saya wasn't going to just let her walk away and got up from where she had been sitting and followed after her.

"Wait! I can't just let you go and do whatever you want! Besides, he's too strong-"

"And what do _you _want to do, _Saya_?!" She spat, whipping around.

Saya actually came to a complete halt, never having seen Diva actually furious or even angry before.

"Do you want to go have fun with all your wonderful friends and wonder now and then about what's bad?! Letting all of your precious humans being in danger as you do so?! You are _never_- _**never!! **_the one who get's hurt! You don't know what it's like to be kept in a single room for years on end being experimented on without even a name! You don't know what it is like to have the only person you thought cared about you making it their sole reason in life to hunt you down and kill you! And you _sure _as _hell _don't know what it's like to be locked in a box and then run through by mean little things of metal and stuck their, in agony, for hours wondering if you're going to be cut in half!"

She stepped back, surprised Diva was being so upfront about it. Despite who she was.

Her sister's eyes narrowed at her as she leaned forward.

"I bet you didn't even _try _to stop him, did you?"

When Saya gave no response Diva closed her eyes, shielding whatever her true feelings were, before snapping them open again.

"I am _not _going to wait until you can have a bunch of other people lock me in a box to repeat the oh-so-enjoyable process! I'll kill that bastard my own way!"

With that Diva once again turned about and began heading towards the front exit of the warehouse.

But just about everyone was surprised when it was not _Saya _who stopped her for the second time, but _Kai_.

She stood there, glaring up at him as he got in her way.

"Move!"

He didn't seem to be angry, despite who he was dealing with, and didn't budge or draw out his gun.

"You have to come with us." He said calmly.

She began acting like Saya had initially expected her to and quickly developed into an irritated, animal-like state.

"No I don't!" Diva said while trying to strike out at him.

However, it was astounding when he dodged her blow and hooked her right in the cheek, sending Diva down to the ground, looking up at him in what was almost a stupor.

"I read it in Joel's diary; even when chiropteran queens feed on humans, they still require some time to gain back their strength. You're no stronger than any teenage girl right now. And I'm not about to just let you walk around doing whatever you want when we need you to beat that guy."

Her hand came up to her cheek, which had just now finished healing; much too slowly.

Kai pulled his jacket off and tossed it down to Diva.

"That should cover most of the cut up stuff."

Saya stepped forward again, unable to believe the way he was acting.

"Kai! What are you doing?! After all that she's done, and to Riku-"

"I _know_ Saya. That's _why_ I'm doing this."

His hands grew tighter but kept from balling up into fists.

"She almost killed him back at "The Zoo". And she…_did _kill him on Red Shield headquarters. But, she's the closest thing to my little brother that's left Saya! Back when Amshel Goldsmith forced me to go meet with her at that production on the army base when the corpse core showed up, I felt…something about Riku with her. I don't know what it is but I can't shake the feeling. For a moment, it was almost as if he was there with me."

A second passed and he looked directly at Saya, back to normal.

"Besides, we need her to beat that guy. Right?"

She hesitated, but nodded.

Kai looked back down at Diva, who had just finished pulling on the jacket.

"Come on, let's go."

She didn't say anything, keeping whatever was bothering her quiet as they walked, somewhat like prison guards and an inmate, towards what was hopefully a door at the back of the building.

* * *

Sorry it took longer, but I was working on getting my site up. There really isn't much at all on it right now, but I created it for this and it makes me feel better. ha. The address is if anyone's interested. (Tacky Iknow but... whatever. heh) I'll try to get another chapter up again sometime soon but no guarantees.


	8. Shadowed stem

"I don't like it here." She said for what must have been the hundredth time this month.

It was rarely a comfortable temperature for her in this room and even when it was she had nothing to do, and no one to talk to.

Though she had to admit that more than the boredom, she didn't like being alone.

The only person who ever came around was Amshel, and she didn't like when he did.

Every once in a while he would simply leave food, water and blood for her but those restrained visits were few and far between.

Often it led to some kind of "experiment".

And usually those experiments were something that took more blood from her than she was allowed to have when it would actually come around. Resulting in her feeling worse than before.

But… it _always _led to something painful.

Still though, she liked the company.

And the pain was like a regular part of her very-small life now, so she was willing to accept the presence of someone else in exhange for what she got "in return".

"It doesn't mean I feel we had a fair agreement though." She thought, remembering the first time he'd hurt her.

"His name in exchange for something I had. So I got to know the _name _of the person who would keep hurting me."

She wished someone else would come.

People were always running around doing things, but the only person who came to see her was Amshel.

Even when he didn't physically hurt her, Amshel would make her remember things that hurt her brain.

Things she only remembered because she didn't want to make him angry.

A loud noise squeaked up to her from below; the door's noise that signaled Amshel was coming up to her room.

"The door down there must be weak." She thought, knowing that the one that kept her in here sure wasn't; on multiple occasions she'd tried to get it to open but the thing wouldn't move. And all that she could see through an minor cracks in it was more of the same impenetrable and immovable stone walls that made up her tiny prison.

Those people down there could go wherever they wanted and their elaborate clothes consisted of pieces bound together that were actually _worn _as opposed to just draped over them. They even had more than one set of them.

"It's not fair." She told the room for what must have been the _thousandth _time.

* * *

"I'm cold." She said to no one in particular as they walked through the elongated halls of the dark, grey, boring, and obviously, cold building.

While she was used to people who would offer to get her the most expensive, attractive and warm coat imaginable instead she got a non-so-helpful reply from Kai, who was strangely enough walking next to her.

"Well, that's what you get for dressing for show instead of for how it is outside." He spoke to her as they continued the dreary journey.

She pouted, biting her lip and looking away to her left side; completely in the opposite direction of him.

Before anyone showed any signs of responding to her silent-tantrum, however, she tripped over herself and almost collided with the ground, instead colliding with Saya's back.

Fortunately for her, in a way, Haji made sure Saya didn't fall down so she didn't either.

As they separated, Diva noticed that Saya's free hand was grabbing the hilt of her sword tightly.

"Of course she is." She thought, upset for too many reasons.

"Watch where you're going." Her sister responded in an uncaring and noticeably irritated tone.

It wasn't surprising, but it still bothered her.

So, with her doubtlessly flawless logic, she decided to bother _Saya _in return.

"Oh? No "are you hurt?" or "lean on me"?" She teased, knowing that it would take nothing less than a miracle-inspired epiphany for her sister to _ever _say something like that to her.

"I'd rather you fall down _completely _actually." Saya responded, surprising Diva at how offensive it was considering her wannabe "goody-goody" nature.

She backed away from Saya and kept her eyes on the ground as they continued walking through the halls.

Having everyone around her so cooperative for so many years had meant that Diva's means of insulting people were quite inexperienced. Even if she could, she doubted she would have tried to hurt Saya's feelings.

"Why? I hate her so why do I care? _She _doesn't care. So why do I?" She thought to herself, wishing there was something more covering her legs; the once-full-length and multi-parted dress now the length of a tattered miniskirt and leaving most of the length of her legs at the mercy of the brisk air which felt so cold it almost seemed like she was getting hurt by a cheese grater made out of ice.

"Well, not a real one. Those hurt a lot." She thought again idly, not knowing how horrific it was to know what such a thing felt like.

Still, Kai liked her now. So that was okay.

Thinking it would make her feel better, and by extension, make _him _feel better, she grabbed onto his arm and tried to cuddle against him while they continued through the halls that were apparently more extensive than the warehouse had been large.

Something strange happened though; he shoved her away.

Her hand, unable to keep its grip on his arm due to the unexpected separation, let her once again fall away, though this time her fall was not broken by Saya being in her way, but by the glass in a door.

The door, which consisted of a metal frame with most of its size made up of a large plate of the glass, remained still and locked in place as she continued in her descent towards the ground, heralded by hundreds of little flashes coming down through the air with her.

As she and the numerous shards of glass landed, Diva once again regretted not having anything covering her legs, as she felt several things stick out of them now.

"I sure hope the third time isn't the charm with this." She thought while pushing up, ignoring the dozens of pains that were sent up into her palms.

After succeeding in making her way up, glancing over at Kai, who didn't seem to have done so on purpose, she began plucking the larger pieces of glass from her body as the tiny, barely-visible ones were pushed out and her body healed itself.

"That wasn't very nice." She remarked while dropping the last big piece.

His eyes more or less returned to their original look, albeit a bit upset and irritated at the same time.

"Sorry." He spoke as if it was more out of a feeling of obligation than actually caring about her well-being.

It wasn't exactly something she'd ever had a true abundance of to begin with so the thought drifted in and out of her mind as she stepped back into the hall and they continued like nothing had ever happened.

* * *

"Of course." He thought again.

"Damn that girl! She's still not dead!" He yelled at the forest which he had started to make his way through as he once again smelled her blood.

The ability to hear her heart beating wasn't strong enough for him to be able to tell from here, but when her scent had once again reached his heightened sense of smell, he knew the runt hadn't died.

"Kings have an ability to smell blood from miles and miles away, all to help those oh-so-precious goddamned queens!"

It didn't matter of course. It really didn't.

Just because she wasn't dead _yet _didn't mean she couldn't die.

"But still, what the hell?!" He yelled once again, scaring away the few birds that had still been resting in their nests.

"Those little trollops and their insignificant little rats called chevaliers may be a grass stain of our species but they're definitely _part _of it." Alessandro continued on to the trees and anything else that would listen.

"Of course! That bitch was hard to kill, so why not them?!"

A strange and somewhat unfamiliar sound called out from a few yards away and he snapped his gaze over in the direction of the offending noise, glaring at whatever it was that had attempted to interrupt him.

It was a large black-bear, easily big enough to be on one of those disgusting hunting magazines the humans had. The thing stood up on its hind legs or whatever it is that they're called and roared at him again.

"Shut up!" He yelled at it.

The hundreds of pounds of muscle-difference between them evidently didn't fool the bear and it once again dropped onto all fours and wandered off.

"Inferior species." He remarked while returning his gaze to the tree he'd been all-but burning through with his eyes.

"The so-called "major predators"; bears, wolves, lions, sharks, all of them. The only thing that's so impressive about _them _is that they don't flee just at the sight of you."

If he had to pick a least-hated of the two he would have to resolve it to the long-haired one. At least _she _didn't attempt to act like an equal being with humans.

"We live forever, only require one, infinitely-reusable resource, are stronger in both constitution and strength, have the same if not greater mental capacity as them and we don't need to surround ourselves with technology just to survive… and that stupid little tripe thinks we're the same as those damn monkeys?"

He felt his teeth starting to enlarge, becoming more carnivorous in appearance.

"But that doesn't absolve that other miniscule blue-eyed rag from her tainted heritage either."

His snarl turned into a somewhat predatory and entirely inhuman smirk as his brain shifted gears.

"Oh, no… I won't rest until those two and everything they've ever touched is torn from this world and burned and buried in the worst-smelling landfill possible. It's a good thing I just woke up. Otherwise I might start to get a bit cranky."

His laugh, which could be considered a normal one by some and completely insane by others, echoed throughout the forest as his eyes pulsed and his teeth continued to transform, as if responding to his lust for the hunt.

"The longer they live, the longer I can make them suffer."

* * *

A long time coming, I know, but I couldn't really think of anything for quite a while.


	9. Wait for the gardener

"So David, how are we going to find our way out of this area?" Saya asked him as they finally reached the end of the stretch of hallway and he opened the back entrance doors.

"I'll call for a helicopter once we're outside." He said while scanning the shadows for anything suspicious.

Luis was doing so as well, of course. But since he somehow still had a candy-bar in his mouth it was more emboldening to look at David, who seemed to always take everything seriously.

"Won't that take a while? Not to mention those things are loud as hell. That guy will know right where we are." Kai added, checking his handgun and chambering a round.

Saya shook her head.

"No. I think he _let _us get away. If he wanted to kill us immediately we would have all died back at the opera house." She spoke as the group made their way outside.

The woods outside the massive building were expectedly dark and looked like they held hundreds of blood-thirsty creatures. An atmosphere that most likely wasn't present during the day.

"Then why did he attack us and then run away?" Kai asked, forming a perimeter along with David and Lewis.

"I'm…not sure."

"Maybe he likes me." Diva teased Saya, tired of being left out of the conversation.

"I doubt he skewered you inside a box because he likes you." Saya retorted, eager to end Diva's fragment of this previously-serious dialogue.

She shrugged.

"Maybe he's just not direct. Boys can be like that."

"And you know this from what? Your social experiences with a dozen people?" Saya said in a frustrated tone, now facing Diva.

"Saya, come on. Focus would ya?" Kai asked, not looking back at them.

"Right. Sorry." Saya remained behind Kai as David pulled a radio out of one of his pockets and requested for a helicopter to come pick them up.

"Correct. We were ambushed upon arrival at our destination. The van is completely immobile. Yes, Diva is free but under control."

She stuck her tongue out at him in response while making her own way over to Kai.

"I'm afraid so, all of the Red Shield operatives who were stationed at the safe house were dead before we arrived. We were unable to save any of them."

"So, are they sending a ride or not?" Kai asked.

"Yes." David responded, momentarily holding the radio away from his mouth.

"Ask them to bring a cheeseburger when they get here, would you David?" Lewis whispered, his smile not visible to Saya from the way he was facing.

"With two patties of meat. High quality. Oh and fresh lettuce-"

"Lewis." David interrupted him, evoking a chuckle from the large man.

"I'm just kidding with cha man! Lighten up!"

"Also," David spoke, once again into the radio's receiver.

", bring a vial of S-76 when you come to get us. Make sure it's ready when you get here."

Saya looked at David, confused at the use of the unfamiliar term.

"Understood. We are at the back entrance to the building. We will wait for your arrival."

With that, David once again put the radio pack into a jacket pocket and held his gun out with both hands.

"How long did they say it would take? I'm starving." Lewis added again.

"I'm not sure. They will be able to make the distance in at least half the amount of time due to them flying as opposed to driving, but the estimated time of arrival is something I'm unsure of."

"David," Saya began.

"What is "S-76"?"

His gaze darted to her face for a moment before returning to its original direction.

"You'll have to see when they get here. It's difficult to explain."

The three making up the perimeter of the group loosened their stances and moved back towards the walls of the building.

"They're just stealing my thing." Diva somewhat boasted.

Kai actually seemed surprised that he hadn't noticed the connection between D-67 and S-76 before _Diva _had. Though so was Saya.

"Different letter and switched the numbers around." She finished.

"Is that true, David?" Saya asked, all the more curious now, since she didn't remember ever having blood really taken from her. That wasn't given back immediately through transfusion anyway.

"…Yes. Though it's effects are not like those of Delta-67."

"If it came from Saya maybe it turns people into bunnies. Oh! Or maybe rainbows! Or marshmallows!" Diva spoke up, once again getting on Saya's nerves.

"Try to be quiet, would you?" Her un-amused sister asked through nearly-gritted teeth.

"No. I like to talk."

"I can see that."

"I'm glad, because I'm going to _keep _talking."

"Diva, dull it down would you?" Kai asked, still looking out at the forest.

In response she once again bit her lip and thrust her arms in-between each other, pouting.

"_She _started it. Besides, why should I stop talking just because you want me to?"

"'Cause you're really loud."

Her pout grew in magnitude.

"Such a rude boy."

"You're not exactly miss-manners yourself."

"Now, now, Kai. You should be nice to girls. Even if they're little pumpkins." Lewis spoke up, his broad smile making Kai leave the argument.

Diva was not so easily deviated.

"I am _not _a pumpkin! I'm not even orange!"

"If you had a mirror, you would see that you _are_!"

"Shut up!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

She curled up more tightly and muttered to herself.

"Stupid fat Jamaican man."

"Better a fat man with a cool accent than a orange _pumpkin_." He continued to joke.

She was getting more steamed up by the second and Lewis finally left her alone, still smiling.

Saya, however, was now fueling her own _silent _anger.

"Why are you talking to her like she's one of us? Have you forgotten that she's _still _our _enemy_? She's not our friend." Saya thought out loud, not realizing it until Diva bolted up and rushed back inside.

"Argh. You've gotta be kidding me." Kai complained while scratching his head and getting up and running back into the building.

"A killer-girl that weighs in the double-digits and that has the personality of a five-year-old cry-baby."


	10. Where there is no sunlight

"Damn it. I can understand them not getting along, but we don't need her running off." Kai thought to himself while searching the halls for her.

"And with how long this friggin' corridor is who knows where she's hiding?"

His body darted in and out of offices, utility closets and any other place he could think of that she might be hiding in, but none of them contained the upset girl.

"I guess the only reason what happened before bothered Saya is because of what that guy did."

A second later his temper rose and one of his fists clenched.

"Well it isn't like it wasn't the same thing for all of us. You're not _normal _if it doesn't bother you when someone gets skewered dozens of times while being trapped in a tiny claustrophobic box. That bastard. He's gotta be sadistic or something."

As Kai made his way down the hall one of his hands tried to turn a doorknob, only to discover it was locked.

The door was solid as well so he couldn't see if there was anyone inside, but it was unlikely that she would have come this far only to lock a door so he kept going.

He must have continued making his way through the clean, but powerless hallways for at least another five minutes befpre Kai noticed something on the floor.

It was just a torn up book. Nothing special to most people. But…

"The pages got torn out of the cover." He remarked while kneeling down and picking up both, the cover in one hand and the still-glued-together pages in the other.

His mouth curved upward, forming a smile he hadn't made in a year.

"And some change."

He slid the pages back between the cover, the title of it momentarily seeming to change to that of another book.

One that Riku used to have.

And he felt an extra-charged spark go through his brain and dropped the things back to the floor while running back the way he'd come.

"It's unlikely. But maybe…"

* * *

"Saya," David began from the other side of the doorway, causing her to lean forward and look at him from her own side.

"I understand your feelings towards Diva. I think we can agree that we all feel the same way. As much as we can. But you said it yourself, we _do _need her to defeat that man you encountered earlier tonight."

Saya looked down at the ground and nodded her head.

"For now, please refrain from saying anything out loud that may upset her. We don't know how long it will take for her powers to return but it would be best to play it safe."

It took her a few moments before she could respond.

"I understand. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. She doesn't have them back yet. At least I highly doubt she does. Kai will be able to bring her back."

Once again she nodded her head.

"I know. He's good at doing things like that." Saya spoke quietly, remembering the multiple times he'd helped her figure things out.

"But what about when she regains her powers? I might be able to fight her but I'm _not _as _fast _as her. We couldn't do anything to keep her from getting away.

"Saya," Haji began with his normal monotone.

"If she were to get away, I could chase after her."

She shook her head.

"No, Haji. She's too strong. I couldn't let you get hurt like that. And don't forget that her blood would do the same thing to you that mine did to her chevaliers."

"I understand."

David pulled what appeared to be a small hand-sized box from his back pocket and opened it, a rod and other things inside of it.

"Diva's…characteristics, may not be as much of a problem as previously thought."

Her head shook a bit in confusion.

"I don't understand what you mean, David." She replied as he began using the various things in the small box to clean his favored revolver.

"S-76. Subsisto-76 is its full-length title."

"Subsisto? Is that Latin or something?"

"Yes."

"I thought it was strange before, that you wouldn't explain what it did."

David himself nodded while sliding the rod into the barrel of the gun.

"It was because Diva was here. I didn't want her to know what it did."

"So? What _does _it do?"

His hand hesitated as it began to put the rod back into the "cleaning-box" and he looked at her.

"Its purpose _is _somewhat difficult to explain but I can tell you what I _do _know about it."

* * *

"_Come on, Riku. Just open the door. Okay man?"_

_No reply._

"_Lewis made your favorite food. I bet you're hungry."_

_Still nothing._

"_Riku…"_

* * *

He hesitated.

It was something Kai rarely did these days but he did.

Ten minutes had passed as he thought of whether or not to act on what he'd thought.

Then he hit himself on the forehead and decided to get on with it.

"Are you in there?" He asked the locked door, unsure if she was or if _he_ was just acting really stupid.

No reply.

"Look, if you are, we need to be ready to go when that helicopter gets here."

Still nothing.

"Oh man, what the hell do I think I'm doing?" He asked himself out loud.

"She's not him. I can't believe I'm trying to do something stupid like this." Kai continued while starting to look around again.

As he began, however, an unexpected voice _did _speak out from the other side.

"He told me to do this." Diva's voice all-but whispered to him from the inside room.

Kai walked back over to the door, still not making an effort to just break it down.

"You mean…"

"Riku did."

He sighed, already feeling himself get upset.

"I don't know why I listened to him. You found me. I guess he was wrong." She once again spoke up, this time with a deeper tone of disappointment.

"Maybe he wasn't." He spoke up, more to himself than to her.

"What do you mean?"

One of Kai's hands came up and went under the collar of his shirt, pulling the "necklace" out so that he could look at it.

For some reason it seemed brighter and more polished than usual.

"Maybe he _wanted_ me to find you."

"So you could catch me?"

Kai shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't see it.

"That's not the kind of person that Riku was. He wouldn't do that."

"Then why?"

Before responding, Kai turned away from the door and leaned against it, allowing himself to fall down it until he was sitting on the ground.

"I think he wanted me to help you."

It was faint, be he could _swear _he heard her gasp. Though maybe it was just wishful thinking.

After that there were several minutes of silence before she finally spoke up again.

However, this time, it seemed like she was right on the other side of the door.

"You think so, huh?" She asked, sounding like she was sitting down against it as well.

"I can't see my little brother doing it for any other reason."

"Why did you come after me?" She asked, not seeming angry at all anymore.

"We need you to beat that one guy."

"Is that all?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Yes. But is that all?"

He managed something like a scoff; it was like Saya and Riku were combined inside her or something.

"I told you already-"

"I remind you of Riku."

He couldn't respond.

It wasn't that simple, but he doubted she would understand what he meant if he tried to explain it.

"So the only reason you're being nice to me is because I remind you of him?"

"Pretty much."

There was another silence following this and he started to feel bad for some reason.

"Why isn't Saya nice to me then?"

"I guess it's because she's known you longer than she's known me and Riku."

"'known me' hm?"

Kai didn't quite know how to respond to her last statement, and eventually just took it as her thinking out loud.

"I'll come out if you promise me something."

He didn't like where this was going, but decided to give it a shot.

"You're not getting any blood from me."

A little chuckle told him she was starting to regain her normal personality again.

"It's nothing like that, silly."

"What then?"

"I want you to promise me that you won't let my big sister kill me."

He gasped, completely taken by surprise.

"Because I said she reminds me of Riku she thinks I'll save her?! That definitely sounds like her but…"

"…until we kill him then."

He blinked. Apparently having been at a loss for words longer than he'd realized.

Eventually though he decided that he could at least do that and told her so.

A few seconds later she unlocked and opened the door, staring down at him as he leaned back and stared up at her.

It was really dark so it was hard for him to tell but…were those tear marks?

"Okay, I'll come with you."

He grinned unconsciously before standing up and leading her back towards the entrance they'd originally come from.

Neither of them really said anything while making their way to the back entrance, and he could already hear the helicopter, though it sounded like it was still pretty far away.

"It was an accident, you know." She remarked as they approached the doorway. But before he could ask her what she meant they were outside and he decided to drop it.

Kai sat back down by Saya but noticed with a bit of surprise that Diva was sitting down several yards from where he was.

From how she'd acted before he'd expected her to fasten herself to him until the helicopter arrived.

But she wasn't running away so he let her be.

"How did you get her to come back out?" Saya asked him with no particular tone.

"Just gave her time I guess." He responded as the helicopter could be heard growing closer.

"That's all?"

"You like to take a look at my neck or something?" He asked her in a tone that was harsh enough that it surprised _him_.

"No. Never mind." She responded hesitantly.

Everyone waited in silence until the leaves on trees began swaying by the wind the helicopter was making and they stood up.

"Hey, you stay out there and you're gonna get one hell of a headache." He spoke over to Diva, almost instantly causing her to stand up and walk back over towards the building. Though she still kept her distance from everyone.

It seemed to surprise Saya at how cooperative Diva was being and he decided to tell her something if only to ease her mind.

"She locked herself in a room." He told Saya quietly.

Her facial expression was unreadable as the helicopter's searchlight beamed down into the clearing near the back entrance to the building.

It landed and they started walking towards it, Kai glad that it would be too loud for them to speak to each other for a while.

* * *

Mizukage2, in response to your review, I guess I forgot to make it more apparent that it was the act of what Alessandro had done that had made her upset, not that it had been done to Diva. If that is indeed what you meant. But now I know what to look out for, so I'll try to make sure I say why people act a certain way from now on.


	11. From a red oak tree to a weed

"I like your voice." Someone said from outside the tower, down below and far away.

It was strange.

She had been alone for years and years, yet when someone had spoken to her, the girl could not say anything except thank the person and respond that she liked the other's voice as well.

Though it had only been a few seconds since she knew this person, the girl's loneliness had disappeared. In place of that she felt…good. Even though she did not know why.

"I'm tired of being lonely. That's why." She thought before the girl outside the tower spoke up again.

"My name's Saya."

For a second she wondered if "Saya" was just telling her the name so that she would know who another person was that would be hurting her, but soon the thought disappeared.

Saya, did not sound like Amshel had.

There was no deal. Nothing that she had to give the girl in return. Instead, she had said what her name was simply out of what seemed to be desire.

"Saya." She though out loud, thinking about how much she liked that word.

It was interesting to her for some reason.

"I am…" The girl began, trying to think of something to call herself.

But the names she had been told by Amshel and Saya were different than the words that he had made her remember. They were unique. And she did not know any unique words.

"Tell me what _your_ name is." Saya quietly urged from outside.

"Name?" She thought out loud again, trying to scrounge up something- _anything _to call herself.

The girl must have been thinking about it long enough for Saya to figure it out.

"You don't have a name?"

To that, she didn't know how to reply.

"Then we'll just have to find a name _for _you." She heard Saya say while approaching the tower that the girl was a prisoner of.

"Um, let's see." Saya spoke, in thought.

She began singing again, not sure what else to do, as Saya grew closer.

As she sang, Saya spoke up once again, causing the girl to stop before finishing.

"_I_ know! Your name will be _Diva_! Diva the _princess_! With the beautiful singing voice!"

"Diva?" She asked, thinking about the word.

She liked it. It sounded pretty and somewhat reminded her of Saya.

"I'm Diva?"

"That's right! Diva! So now we can become friends!" Saya said happily from down below.

She had been taught the definition of the word. But never truly understood it before.

Diva, that's who she was, had asked Amshel once if _they _were friends, in an attempt to grasp its meaning. But he had not replied, only looked at her like he always did before leaving the room.

However, she had been told that friends often gave each other things to show that they liked each other and looked around for something to give Saya.

Her cloak wasn't good enough, but…

Diva reached out and plucked one of the blue flowers, called a rose, from the vines on a wall and tossed it out of her prison's window.

It was strange, she could feel it drifting downwards all the way through the air, even when Saya caught it in her hands.

Her friend sounded happy afterwards and Diva guessed that she had done something good.

"Thank you!" Saya spoke up to her in gratification.

"You're welcome." She responded, remembering as well that that's how you are supposed to respond when someone thanks you for something.

"Now that we're friends, how about you come out here so I can see you?" Saya asked up to her.

But, she couldn't. As much as Diva wanted to just throw open the door to her prison and go down to Saya she was unable to.

And she was too afraid to jump out the window. Otherwise she would have done so long ago.

More than anything else though, she was scared of what it would be like outside.

Though she did not like being stuck in this room, it was all that she knew.

"I cannot." She responded hesitantly.

"But why?" Saya complained.

"I am stuck in here. I can't get out."

"You mean… you have _never _left the tower?"

"No. I haven't."

"Then I'll find a way to _get _you out!" Saya said up to her again.

She was surprised, and scared.

But if she could see Saya, Diva was willing to leave.

She _wanted _to leave.

* * *

It was really loud in here.

Diva had always made a point of staying away from noisy things, aside from Saya of course. And this helicopter would have definitely been on her "no way" list.

But she'd felt much worse less than an hour ago, so her ears bared it as they floated up into the sky and then flew back the way she guessed it had originally come.

Kai was in-between her and Saya, probably keeping them from bothering each other again.

Diva didn't care though.

He was next to her, that's what mattered.

Though he was being mean by still not letting her hug him.

She had pouted at first when he stopped her advances but had eventually given in and was now content to simply sit next to him, enjoying the company.

David and Lewis, those were their names right? They were sitting on a bench near the door of the helicopter, which the two had been unable to close.

That was part of the reason it was so loud in here. And she was beginning to get bored.

Whenever Diva had tried to get up from where she was sitting, Kai would always pull her back down and tell her she had to stay seated or she might fall out.

This, again, had made her pout. And by now, she was feeling stale.

There was nothing to do here. Just sitting around. And she couldn't nap either because stupid Saya and Haji were sitting on the bench as well.

Diva would have gotten up to throw them out and lay down, but she held herself back since she knew it would upset Kai.

"Strange…I've never done anything for someone else before." She thought, trying to escape from the boredom.

But it didn't work.

She had never been one to sit around thinking. That was why when she had a choice Diva would always choose to have Solomon or Nathan around, as they kept her busy.

Karl would get her dresses and dolls as well, and it was even fun to tease around with James, even though he never lightened up.

But Amshel… for some reason whenever he was obsessed with learning about something and no one else was around there was nothing she could do to get him to pay attention to her. It was as if she was still stuck up in that tower with nothing to do.

The window was just right in front of her and the confines were silver metal as opposed to sand-colored-rock.

Her eyes became droopy and it felt like she had a fever she was so bored.

The blues orbs' gaze drifted over and looked at David, who was fiddling with some kind of red fluid in a vial.

It was strange though, it didn't smell like blood.

For a second she wanted to taste it to see what it was, but decided she was too lazy right now to get up, even _if _Kai would let her.

"If he can be like _Saya's _brother, then he can by _my _brother." She thought to herself.

David inserted a vial of that red stuff into a strange-looking syringe, then looked over towards her.

She instinctively backed away, though it was only an inch or so.

"Kai," he began, making her feel uneasy.

"What is it?"

"I need you to help me do something."

Kai's brow furrowed in response.

"What is there to do? We're in a _helicopter_, David."

"I just need you to help me hold something."

Her eyes lost their droopiness and she observed him like he was a a kind-looking ice-cream-man with an obviously poisoned dagger behind his back.

He wasn't supposed to be trying to hurt her now. They'd said they _needed _her!

"I'm still not feeling good." She thought, continuing to back up, unconsciously moving into Kai.

"Come on, I already told you no." He grumbled to her while looking back to David, who was still holding that damned thing.

It was shiny, even in the darkness. And it resembled things she hadn't seen for a whole century. And had never wanted to see _ever _again.

David stood up from his seat and walked towards them, not holding the syringe out but not hiding it either.

"Just hold her still." He spoke, closing the small distance between them.

Diva didn't know if Kai was going to help her, and didn't care.

She bolted up and tried to push David away, but only succeeded in getting herself trapped by his free hand and thrown face-first into the wall that held Kai's bench.

Before Diva was able to do or say anything, the blonde bastard slammed into her back and held her still as that nasty syringe thing was injected into her from behind.

"David, what the hell are you up to?!" Kai complained as the bastard behind her backed away, letting her go.

"S-76, Subsisto-76, or, translated to English, Halt-76 freezes the unique cells in chiropterans' bodies and keeps them from interacting with other cells. It results in the temporary absence of the assisted processes which is given by their interaction."

Kai shook his head as she rubbed her bottom and cowered against the wall, glaring at it.

"It temporarily suppresses the abilities that chiropterans have."

Her hand tightened into a fist and she whipped around, attempting a jump towards David, aiming to tear that horrible thing from his hand and throw it out the "door".

However, her reflexes were ridiculously clumsy and she tripped on one of her own legs, _herself_ falling towards the opening in the side of the helicopter.

They were hundreds of feet above the trees of the rapidly disappearing forest, and she knew that if she fell out now, with that crap in her, she could die.

But even as the wind began shooting across her face as she approached the outside, her left wrist was grabbed and she was roughly yanked back into the helicopter completely, colliding with something behind her and landing on top of her rescuer against a wall of the helicopter.

She struggled around before seeing that it was Kai, and looked away from him.

"Look, just calm down." He told her while moving him and her to sit back down like nothing had happened.

"You promised!" She yelled, audible even above the noise.

He shook his head and looked away.

"You promised her _what_, Kai?" Saya asked him, a very slight insinuation in her tone.

He scratched his head in response.

"I promised that I wouldn't let you kill her until you both beat that guy."

Kai looked back at Diva.

"But that _doesn't _mean I'm going to baby-sit you, Diva. Besides, you being human is probably best for _everyone _right now. Just stay quiet and behave."

Her eyes widened before she slammed them closed and locked her eyelids shut, her head leaning over the floor.

A fever took over her forehead and then her whole body, making her colder than she already had been and sapping what energy she'd still had.

"Saya, _David_, Kai, Lewis, Haji…I hate **all **of them!" She screamed inside her head, somewhat glad she felt so sick from the fever, as she otherwise would have begun crying.

She was as weak as they were now, and couldn't stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

"Come on, stop being so upset." Kai told her while trying to touch her shoulder and pull her back up.

In response she threw his hand away and snapped her gaze up at him, unintentionally shifting into Riku's form for a moment, stunning him.

"Don't touch me! Every time one of you humans lays a hand on me I either get hurt or it _leads _me to getting hurt! Stay away!" She spat while moving to the very edge of the bench, making a vain attempt at staying away from everyone at the same time.

"It would have been easier if Saya had just killed me." She thought, her mind in shambles as she buried her head in-between her knees and tried to wait for this horrible ride to end.


	12. The line that divides us

"This is where you'll be staying." Kai told her as they stopped at a door in the elongated hall. Though its look was significantly more modern and inhabited than those of the warehouse's.

"Fine." Diva responded unenthusiastically.

"Come on, don't be that way. I'm sure it's-" He didn't finish as David typed a code into the keypad of the door, one of the few that had one, and opened it.

Inside there was about two feet long and ten feet wide of a space, which was separated by what looked like titanium bars from a ten-by-ten foot space with nothing more than a single-sized bed on a bolted-down metal frame and a toilet that was entirely visible.

"It's like a friggin' prison cell." Kai thought out loud.

"This isn't a luxury stay at a hotel for her. She is only alive to help us defeat that man they fought." David responded in his usual tone.

She didn't seem to notice while walking forward, having the door made of the same bars as the rest opened and then closed as she walked inside and the main door was closed as well, the small slide that could be opened, closed as they continued.

"David, this may just be me but…how are we going to get her to fight that guy with us if we're injecting her with drugs and locking her up everywhere we go? I understand making it so she's as weak as normal people, but it doesn't make any sense to me." He spoke while they walked down the hall to an elevator and entered it, the rich colors of it almost blindingly contrasted to the grey tone of the underground corridor.

"We may be able to suppress her powers, but we _can't _suppress her _personality_. There is no way for us to tell that if she were allowed to move around freely that she wouldn't just kill anyone she found anyway."

Saya walked along as silently as Haji did, but looked at Kai's back the whole time with a strange expression.

"What'll we do if that guy attacks _here _though? We all need to know how to get her out if that happens."

David faced him, looking directly into his eyes.

"Kai, now that you've seen Diva as she was, has your opinion of her changed?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I know she's still not on our side."

"But you feel sorry for her, don't you?"

"It's _Riku _I feel sorry for, not her. She just reminds me of him."

There were a few seconds of silence among them as the elevator arrived at its destination. Even after the doors opened, David waited a few moments.

"One, three, seven, nine." Then he exited the elevator and everyone followed him.

"Glad to know you don't think I've turned blue." Kai spoke as they entered a big waiting room.

"I'm not sure of your exact opinion at this moment but, you have lost just as much as any of the other members of Red Shield, and have the right to be trusted the same as everyone else."

"Thanks."

"So long as you don't try and have any "conjugal visits", man." Lewis joked loudly, earning a twitch of an eyebrow from Kai in response and resulting in his usual chuckle in the end.

"Really though, Kai. Please stay away from her as best you can." Saya asked him politely.

"We don't know what she's still capable of."

He nodded a bit in response, but wasn't that concerned.

"I know. It's just…"

"Don't be dramatic man, just say it." Lewis returned.

"I just don't think she has any more of that spirit in her right now. It looks like she's either genocidal and happy or quiet and miserable."

Saya's expression changed, and he knew that even though she still felt that she had to kill Diva, that she knew exactly what he meant. It was what caused her to let Diva out to begin with.

They both knew, though, that it couldn't be afforded to let her out just because her torture had humbled her a bit.

After all, she had never really had normal reactions to things to begin with.

When she was shot, Diva was worried about the hole in her dress. As Saya tried to kill her, she was attempting to have fun.

These events and more all showed one thing now.

Her now-human properties couldn't be counted on to make her a human.

Diva was still Diva. And a chiropteran was still a chiropteran.

"I just wish it didn't have to be that simple." Kai thought to himself.

All of the problems and conflicts between humans and chiropterans were because neither would work with the other.

It wasn't that difficult to make plasma nowadays. And if the chiropterans would help do things like cut down trees or mess things up at a junk yard, that kind of stuff, they could get the plasma or whatever as compensation.

Though maybe it wouldn't be that easy. As well, perhaps the only reason he had these thoughts were because Saya and both Riku and George, their father, were chiropterans.

Haji was one too, yet he wasn't running around chomping on people, even though it was probably very hard for him not to do so.

"It's just…"

* * *

"Not fair." She said, sitting on the scratchy, uncomfortable bed with her legs pulled up onto it as well.

The floor was really, really cold. Not to mention there was nothing fun to do here at all.

And it wasn't like Diva could just break out of here now either.

Those mean people hadn't so much as left her a book to read. Not that she would anyway, of course.

But still…

From what she could tell, the only things in this whole room other than bars, walls and that stuff were a bed, toilet, and toilet paper.

And her. But that didn't count.

"Never has." She said to herself.

"Even that darn tower in France had _windows_." She complained, knowing that like all those years ago, the only thing to talk to was the room.

It wasn't talking back to her.

She had this jacket though. At least there was that.

The thing wasn't all that comfortable; it was just some kind of dress jacket Kai had worn for the concert. Nor was the covering particularly warm.

Still, no one had given her anything the last time she was locked up. And at least now there was a bed.

Nevertheless, most of her body was uncovered by it or the remains of her dress. So, scratchy and itchy though it was, Diva pulled the single-bed's single _blanket _up over her and lay down on the hard, un-fluffy pillow.

The mattress was bumpy, and she felt like it was a dirt road more than a thing meant to be slept on, but somehow managed to fall off to sleep.

* * *

Joel was already here.

This place wasn't designed for luxury stays, and most of the rooms meant for members of Red Shield were reminiscent of the cells below.

Of course, they weren't visible to those who stood outside, and there weren't any bars locking them inside either. As well, they were a bit larger and quite a few even had radios in them.

But just like Diva's single-room prison, none of them had windows and they also didn't have any colors within but grey, silver and white, the latter color only being present in the single blanket that lay on top of the still uncomfortable-looking bed.

It showed that Red Shield operatives were just as trapped within this lifestyle as those that they captured.

On an ironic note, Diva, the until-now ultimate enemy of their organization, was the first Chiropteran to have actually been imprisoned in the cells at all. As it was unpractical both to try and capture a Chiropteran as well as try to keep them locked up in a human-sized room.

Was Diva even a Chiropteran now? Since her blood's powers were suppressed by the S-76?

Saya didn't know, but it was better this way. They simply could not afford to let her walk around freely, let alone with her powers at full strength.

Kai seemed to have been changed by her when he went back into the warehouse before, but she knew that in the end he could do what needed to be done.

Even in this room, which was the only one of its kind in this base, Joel seemed to be a king staying in a muddy hole.

It wasn't that he was picky.

Something Saya had always respected about the man was that even though he had so much power he was neither selfish nor greedy. And, most importantly, he wasn't _arrogant_.

But that was all the more reason why it seemed that he deserved to have a grander abode than a two-room "apartment". Bathroom not included.

The room was designated for whoever would be in charge of the base, but no one had ever expected for the true head of the Red Shield to stay here, so it was designed more for practicality than for luxury.

One of the two rooms was simply a meeting and briefing room; a white board with a few different colored types of markers stood up against one wall while a table that held a small projector in it and a long white screen rested near the other, a few hard plastic and metal chairs sticking out from the table.

In the other room there was a closet with no curtain, a mirror and a single bed, a door beside it that led to the small bathroom.

A distinguishing factor of this bathroom, however, was that it had a shower in it.

All of the other bedrooms, for prisoners or members, had a bathroom or toilet, but none had a shower. There was a single large room somewhere else in the base filled with nothing but these for this purpose, and Saya was thinking that she would have to find out when no one else was in there so she could take one.

Joel was sitting in his wheelchair, which somehow seemed more dignified than it should have, in front of the bed.

He greeted them with his usual warm smile.

"Hello, everyone. I trust that you're all well."

* * *

Okay, the plant theme of the chapter names really started to get on my nerves, so I'm going to change to overall theme of the names of the chapters every (blank) set of chapters...anyway, sorry for taking so long to update.


	13. Split decisions

"I see. So another Chiropteran has revealed itself." Joel remarked gravely.

It was understandable, his discontentment. After all, tonight was to be the end of the Red Shield's battle against the Chiropterans. And now with this enemy that was even stronger than both sisters combined it must have seemed like he would not live to see the end of the fight.

"But Diva is not a threat right now, and it seems that this…" He hesitated to say it.

"Man, is only intent on fighting the two of you. I'm sure that given enough time we will be able to discover how we can kill him."

Saya nodded.

Because of the way the room was set up it was virtually impossible for any of them to sit down and still face Joel. So she, Kai, Haji, David and Lewis were standing in front of the doorway and gazed down at Joel.

"Not that it's a _good _thing that he wants to fight you, of course. Saya." Joel offered, smiling apologetically at his blunder.

Her grip on her sword tightened as she shook her head in a tiny arc to show that she understood.

"I'm glad he wants to fight us, and us alone. As long as he doesn't hurt any of you or anyone else I will be able to bare it."

Kai sighed and let his shoulders droop slightly for a moment.

"Saya, you know that we're here to fight alongside you. Don't try to do everything yourself." He reminded her.

It took her a second, but she acknowledged his response.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

A few moments of silence passed before someone spoke up again.

"So, were you able to determine anything bout our enemy, Saya?" Joel asked again.

She thought on it, but there wasn't anything that really stood out. He was stronger than she was. Stronger than _Diva _usually was. There wasn't any one particular thing except-

"Our blood can't kill him." She said, upset she hadn't thought of it already.

After all, their whole strategy on fighting the Chiropterans until now had been based on the assumption that Saya's blood would kill them.

But now that she thought about it…

"He's stronger, faster, ruthless, merciless. We can't hurt him, my blood doesn't kill him, and because of our sleeping cycles we can't just wait for him to fall into his hibernation and then go after him."

It was hard for her to believe she hadn't noticed this before, but really… what _could _they do?

Chiropterans could heal from just about anything, so even if they found a way to harm him, it wouldn't matter anyway.

At least against Diva and he Chevaliers there was the reassurance that her blood could kill them. All it took was that one single blow and they would be defeated, regardless of how much more powerful than her they were.

But Alessandro was stronger than a Chevalier. Stronger than a _queen_. What could they do?

For the first time since the battle against the Chiropterans began, Saya felt helpless.

And, for the first time since _ever_, she felt _hopeless_.

This obviously showed, as Joel asked her if she was okay.

When she looked out, her vision until now blocked by a curtain of thought, Saya saw that everyone was looking at her.

It wasn't overt, but apparent enough to make her feel slightly embarrassed.

Soon though the embarrassment faded away and she once again began to feel her hope falling away.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but do you mind if we continue this after I've had a shower?" She asked, seeming to surprise Kai that something could deter her from her life-long mission so easily.

Joel didn't seem to have expected it either, but he of course gave no overt sign that he was surprised.

"Of course. You've been through a lot. I'm sorry. David, will you please show Saya where the showers are?"

David seemed caught of guard to be asked to do such a menial task, but his stone features didn't reveal much and he nodded.

"Understood."

Saya nodded as well and the three of them, Haji always with her, left the "apartment for the elevator, which led directly up to here.

* * *

Kai looked after them before they were completely gone and didn't notice Lewis was talking until he was almost finished.

"Sir, would you mind if I went to check on the surveillance?" He asked in an uncharacteristically serious manner.

Joel nodded.

"That's a good idea. Please do."

Lewis walked back towards the elevator as well, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder casually as he passed by him.

Then they were alone, and Joel could obviously tell there was something else on his mind since he hadn't left already.

"Kai? Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah."

"I figured as much." The fair man responded before moving forward slightly.

It wasn't that much, but Kai could tell that this was a subtle gesture that he was listening more intently than he already had been before.

"Actually it's about Diva."

Joel's smile became a single line of lips, a monotone expression.

It wasn't that he was frowning, but Joel always seemed to instantly take things noticeably seriously whenever her name was mentioned.

"Please, go on."

Kai felt himself swallowing even though he wasn't particularly nervous.

"Well, I was wondering why it was necessary to lock her up like that. I understand using the serum or whatever that stuff was on her because of the way she is. But if we need her to help us out, how is sticking her in a cell going to help make her want to help us?"

Joel brought up his hands and intertwined them, resting his elbows on the arms of his wheelchair.

"I see your point."

"If nothing else could we at least give her like a normal room and just have guards outside it and lock her in or something? I mean, as long as her powers aren't working she isn't much of a threat. Not to mention if she gets them back having some bars and a door in her way won't do much to begin with."

Joel was obviously struggling with a decision.

"Having her cooperate out of choice definitely would be preferable. That way we wouldn't have to worry about her running off the first chance she gets."

Kai stood still, as if moving might have a negative effect on Joel's decision-making.

Eventually the man's hands returned to their original places on the arms of the wheelchair and he looked directly at Kai again.

"There are a few joined bedrooms throughout the facility. Normally they are meant for relatives or other similar relationships. But if you want me to, I could arrange for Diva to be placed in one of them while you are in the adjoining room."

Joel pushed himself back in the wheelchair.

"Of course you would have to keep the door locked at all times, and guards would be posted outside both entrances to your rooms twenty-four hours a day. But it should be acceptable."

Kai nodded, not wanting to seem overly excited.

It wasn't really that he wanted everyone to be nice to her. That wasn't the point. He just wanted her to be treated like she at least had feelings.

"Damn." He thought in his head.

"I didn't know I was this soft."

"There is one other thing I need to add." Joel spoke up again.

Kai stared at him, not blinking.

"She will still have to be under the effects of S-76 all day. That is something that I simply am unable to deny. But we need to make sure that she doesn't try to kill anyone when the drug is being administered. It would be a good idea, I think, if you told her that. Otherwise we will have to force her to accept the drug and I believe that will ruin any chances we have on making our partnership a voluntary one."

Kai took a moment to confirm to himself that he wanted to do this.

He did.

* * *

"So then… _That's _where you are." He said to himself, pulling his head away from the ground.

"To think that such places still existed." Alessandro remarked.

This cliff had to massive, sharp rock faces jutting out of it, appearing almost like horns as water roared its way to the edge and then down hundreds of feet below.

The rocks extended well past where the cliff itself ended and it was a miracle that they had not already falling from their hillside perches and down into the frothing waters below.

Of course, it didn't really matter to him one way or the other.

It could have been an inch-high bump in a road for all he cared.

What mattered was that he had something solid to put his head to. This damned waterfall was too loud.

A rainbow stretched out across the valley below; a single concrete complex was enclosed on all sides by rocky mountain-like cliffs, the only brake in them a tiny little road from which cars could probably travel.

He hated rainbows.

The normally-loved "majestic" sights had always made him want to pull a rock from the earth and hurl it at the frail-looking thing; like a sorrow-filled churchgoer breaking the stained glass windows of a cathedral when one of his loved ones died.

Not for the same reason of course. He just wanted to watch the weak thing shatter and crumble down into the real world.

"Beauty is cheap." Alessandro remarked, thinking on how funny it would be to take a sledgehammer to the precious rainbow of sugar-glass.

"If only the idiots could see past the pretty little colors and realize that it's just an optical illusion. It's not really beautiful. Beauty's only skin-deep."

Something clicked.

It was in his head.

A long, concrete hall.

It looked so very sturdy and yet the splashes of red seemed to weaken it.

All along the length of the corridor was a scene of a hundred grisly murders.

Surely, anyone who could do such a thing was an insane monster that had to be destroyed.

And what was in the very center of that?

A beautiful young girl with long black hair.

She had to be killed.

Why?

Because she had shown that she was a monster of course.

Alessandro snickered to himself before taking a step forward to the very edge of the cliff-face.

All of the separate little thoughts combined and formed a single little plot in his head.

"A hated little bitch. That's all she's every going to be."


	14. Always greener on the one side

The room had become even colder than before. And the single blanket she had covering her body was no longer keeping that coldness out.

Diva had never had that good of an internal clock.

When she was happy, time moved fast.

When she was bored, time moved slow.

That's how it felt to her and that was all she cared about.

So now, Diva did not know if it had been a long time or a short time since they stuck her in here, and did not care.

Because she was bored.

Because she was _lonely_.

Above all else, she really didn't like being alone.

Even whenever Amshel would come by, after that one visit, and he used all of those sharp things to hurt her. It had still been more preferable to being alone.

There was no reason to assume they would ever let her out of here. And at the moment, she had no intention of testing to see if her powers had come back.

"I'm thirsty." She spoke meekly to the cold, mean room.

At first it had bothered her; hungering for anything except blood.

But now, when the urge had grown much greater than she'd ever allowed her desire to drink blood grow to, it didn't really matter.

Her lips were dry, her forehead was dry, her mouth was dry, her body was dry.

Everything felt dry. And the cold wasn't helping.

She imagined Kai bursting through the wall, wearing a colorful hero outfit complete with flowing cape and the sun shining behind him, giving him a golden outline.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of this prison cell, away from the cold and dry, and carried her out through the opening he had created.

On the other side there was a perfect plain of soft grass underfoot and a warm, sandy path led to a white-wood bridge with no splinters sticking out that stretched across an elegant, ripple-less pond, leading to a similarly-colored pagoda with a bench stretching along the inside.

Sitting on the bench within was Riku, looking as cute as ever, Saya, smiling at her and wearing the clothes she had been wearing back at The Zoo, and two girls that looked like slightly younger versions of them both, though their hair had slight changes.

There was something they all had in common though; they all looked overjoyed to see her.

Diva leaned forward and reached out at Saya, who was herself, stretching out a hand.

And felt her entire upper body turn into a popsicle as the daydream disappeared and she was thrust back into the real world that everyone else liked so much.

Immediately she returned to the near-non-existent protection the thin, scratchy blanket provided, and wished that she'd stayed in la-la land a bit longer.

Her thirst returned and the feeling of loneliness was once again present.

Kai's dramatic entrance hadn't happened and there was no hole in the wall to escape through, nor were there any signs of suns, beautiful ponds, or white-wood bridges.

In reality Riku was dead, her sister hated her and where those two girls were, she did not know.

And there was one thing everyone in the whole _world _seemed to share in common; they all wanted her to disappear.

"They're just down that way. The first door on your left." David instructed her as they walked down the hall.

* * *

Once she nodded, visually showing acknowledgement of what he'd said, David came to a halt, falling behind her and Haji.

"I'm going to go back and see Joel. Just come find us when you're finished and we'll begin strategizing again."

Saya didn't need to responded this time and she heard him turning about; walking back the way they'd come.

At first she had worried about someone else being down here, but along the way Joel's voice had sounded out through the halls, making his normally soft voice a loud reverberation.

"Please remain out of the showers until further notice. A situation has occurred within them and will be taken care of soon. I appreciate your patience and cooperation. Thank you." He'd said.

At first Saya had thought the "situation" was Diva being loose within them but soon had gathered that Joel was simply making sure she would have her privacy.

Nevertheless, as they made it to the door that simply had "Showers" typed on a label inset in it Haji remained at it to make sure no one would come in anyway.

The shower room was essentially just that. There were two large squares and two small little archways separating them from each other. On one side the walls were lined with lockers and towel racks, and on the other the ceiling-tiles actually had tiny holes in them from which the water would come from.

It was certainly a switch from the otherwise low-tech appearance of the facility and she'd never heard of a place that had these before now.

Also, there were two small green circles that stood out from the normally-white bathroom tiles and a single square in-between those.

She didn't know what they did, but seeing as the pattern was repeated across the whole room, Saya guessed that it was a form of shower-control.

"These showers certainly are something else." She remarked, taking her shoes and then her socks off.

Luckily, on the way here David had stopped by an office of some kind and picked up a white dress shirt and black-suit pants for her to wear after getting out of the shower, so she wouldn't have to put on the same dirty clothes after getting out.

Saya didn't know if they would be small enough for her but it wasn't anything curling up the ends and a belt couldn't fix and she was thankful that he'd gotten them for her at all.

Putting the to-wear clothes down on a metal bench that sat next to one of the sides of lockers, Saya pulled one of the dress' shoulder straps and then the other down as she got ready to shed the torn pink clothing in preparation for the shower.

* * *

Kai thought on how to tell Diva what was going on as one of the Red Shield operatives clad in a black suit unlocked the door to her cell.

"Joel said that drug only lasts twenty-four hours. David… gave it to her at like eleven so I guess we have plenty of time. I'll give her another shot at like ten tomorrow." He scheduled within his head.

"It won't be the most pleasant experience no matter _who _gives her the shot. But considering what she's gone through today alone, I don't think it will even _rank_ on the list of 'Most painful things felt'."

The operative opened the door and he walked into it.

"Was it colder in here than everywhere else in the complex or was it just him?"

Seeing the slightly frosty gleam of the metal bars that separated him and the operatives from Diva and her inner-cell made him re-think that. But there was no way to tell _why _it was colder in here than it was everywhere else.

Her eyes were closed when they entered but rolled open as the operative who had just opened the door to the cell approached the bar-made door and pulled a keycard out of his pocket.

"Got some good news for you." He stated to her, trying not to frown too much as the card was slide through the reader and a metallic clank could be heard; the locking mechanism releasing.

"You get to be in a different room."

Despite what he'd just said, she didn't seem all that eager.

"It's not another cell." He added, instantly eliciting a reaction from her as she quickly rose up from the bed, causing the guards to be put on their…well, on their guard.

Kai waved at them though and their hands fell away from where their guns must be holstered underneath their dress-jackets.

"You still can't come out of that one, but it'll be a room with no locks on it, a bathroom you can't see from the doorway and it'll definitely be warmer."

She nodded, but her smile hadn't returned.

It was strange. Kai felt like he wasn't staring at a whole Diva, like when you hit a knife repeatedly against something hard and the blade is chipped away.

"Well, hopefully not being frozen to death will help raise her spirits. Or at least bring her back amongst the living and out of the ranks of the undead."

Diva looked at the other two guards before hesitantly taking a step forward.

"Where _am _I going?" She asked, not seeming to be joking at all.

He could only imagine what she was thinking about in her head, but told her that it was a normal room.

After that she walked all the way over to him, holding the jacket he'd given her tight against her chest, and they exited the room.

When they walked outside, there were two more guards waiting there and the group of six walked down the hall towards the elevator.

* * *

I apologize for the short length of the chapter.


	15. Human who saves & Chiropteran who damns

"What the-" Was all any of them said, and it came from Kai, as the elevator doors slid open and that same guy from before was standing inside.

His eyes were closed at first but he still held that same annoying smirk, like there was something so funny about whatever he was watching.

As the doors finished opening his eyelids slid up underneath his face, followed shortly afterwards by his eyes, which stopped halfway to look out at them in a menacingly amusing gaze.

"Well, now. Here you are." He remarked, staring past Kai at Diva.

Seeing this, he and the other operatives pulled their guns out from wherever they were holstered and aimed them at him.

To be honest, Kai had expected for the man to have already disappeared like all the Chevaliers would when a gun was pointed at them, but he hadn't moved an inch.

"Great, he's a sadistic bastard _and _arrogant." Kai thought to himself before pulling the trigger.

And the gun clicked.

"What the hell?" He wondered out loud as there were clicks to the side and behind him; the other guards seeming to have the same problem.

Then Kai looked up, and all of their magazines were at his feet, as well as any rounds that had already been chambered.

"No way." One of them remarked before the man stepped forward, eliciting a charge from the two guards at Kai's sides.

But before they could so much as tell him to run, he'd grabbed both of the decently-sized men by the throats and lifted them up into the air, revealing for the first time just how long his entire body was, as the operatives' hair brushed against the ten-foot-tall ceiling, held aloft by his abnormally long arms.

"Don't take this as a statement to what side of the "fence" I'm on, but…"

Like it was some kind of joke, the black-haired man pulled one operative down and bit into his neck, held him still as the blood flowed from the carotid artery on the side of his neck, and then dropped his pale, lifeless body to the floor.

Even as the second operative struggled against his grip, knowing the same thing was about to happen to him, his neck too was lowered as he dangled helplessly in the inhuman grip that held him immobile.

"Damnit!" Kai cursed aloud as he turned around, thrust his father's gun back underneath his shirt and grabbed Diva's hand, pulling her back the way they'd come.

"Come _on_!" He yelled, trying to pull the zombie-like girl away from the gruesome scene.

The other two guards who had been accompanying them, knowing full-well they were throwing away their lives, ran past them in an attempt to give the couple a chance to escape.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn it!" Kai spoke through gritted teeth as they headed towards the single corner that waited up ahead of them.

Diva didn't respond to him as he dragged her towards the turn in the hall and hoped to whatever that may be above them that it wasn't a dead end.

They didn't learn.

The two guards that had just sacrificed themselves grunted in some manner of pain before he felt their bodies flying towards them, and like human torpedoes they collided with the two of them, sending both to the floor.

However, while Diva was trapped under the weight of the two dead men, Kai had rolled along the floor until he hit the wall they'd been heading for.

He ignored the bruised ribs and the chore that breathing had become, and pushed himself up, glaring at that aristocratic-looking man as he walked towards her, his expensive shoes making a loud noise on the tough concrete as he made his way over to the girl that was struggling to get out from underneath her organic prison.

Kai had just enough time to notice that his body was trembling before willing it into cooperative and run towards the man, preparing to tackle him.

As he made his way towards him though, one of his legs tripped on a dead man's outstretched foot and he stumbled, falling to the floor.

A cruel and twisted laugh echoed down at him from above and he glared up at the bastard that hadn't even needed to attack him.

"Such a loyal little boy-toy aren't you?" He taunted, getting on Kai's last nerve.

The infuriated young man leapt up from his position on the floor, grabbed a small box in his pockets and twisted it, calling forth a mechanic beep from it as he grabbed the jerk's own neck and thrust the noisy box into his mouth, slamming it down into his throat with a well-placed downward punch.

Kai, hopped back and then twisted away, jumping up and drop-kicking the man as he himself fell down once again.

As expected, the asshole wasn't standing, and lay on the floor.

He didn't seem exhausted yet, but he'd be _more _than that soon enough as the little black box continued to count down its little beeps.

But they didn't have enough time to get away so Kai instead tried to cover Diva with the other two dead members, in preparation of the explosion the would ensue.

She complained as her body was essentially human now and she had three men lying on top of her.

Still, it would be a lot easier for _her _to breath than the other guy in…nine seconds.

"Calm down." He told her as he counted down the time in his head.

"Two, one…"

The hall should have exploded in red and yellow flame, bringing chunks of concrete caving down on the man even as it blew his torso into a million pieces.

But then why the hell had he just heard a little gulp?

Kai rolled over to see what the problem was, and heard what sounded like a gooey pop sound out from the man's throat.

And that was all. No explosion. No bloody chunks, just what sounded like a suppressed burp.

"Oh dear." He heard the man laugh out as a few of his teeth fell from his mouth and clapped down onto the concrete floor.

"Well, that's _something _I gue-"

Because they were pushed out by newer, sharper ones.

"Swell."

The man began walking towards them again, blood coming from his mouth that surely wasn't his own, and he gazed down at them like a ravenous animal and a gleeful madman all at once.

"You've certainly proved yourself. I'll tell you what, I will give you a reward." He spoke before Kai felt himself pulled up into the air.

"I'll tell you my name. Alessandro. Nice to meet you."

Kai mouth allowed blood to come out of it as he snarled at the bastard, though he didn't know why it was bleeding.

Didn't matter, either.

He spat at "Alessandro", who dodged it and then chuckled, slamming his body into a concrete wall with little effort.

It wasn't enough.

Kai leapt up from the floor and grabbed Alessandro's shoulders, and brought his head back.

He slammed his forehead against the man's pretty little skull so many times he lost count, but just as he was about to stop a hand slid underneath his breast plate and above his ribs and stabbed into his stomach, causing him to cough up blood once again and fall down for the last time.

Though he tried to move his body it wasn't responding anywhere below his arms and all he could do was try to crawl towards Alessandro as the man made his way to Diva once again.

But the man's cocky grin disappeared when Kai managed to grip the bottom of his pant-legs and he bit through them, into his Achilles heal.

The taste was disgusting and stretchy and made him want to throw up, but he didn't have enough time to before the heel came away and Alessandro, certainly not amused now, brought his foot up, and then down.

There wasn't much Kai _could _do to fight against the blackness.


	16. Loved girl's hatred for the forsaken one

That was exactly what she'd needed.

While taking the shower Saya had actually felt the worry wash off her like an unwanted layer of skin.

It left her feeling fresh, both physically and mentally.

In fact, she actually let out an "ah!" as she turned the shower off and walked over to one of the archways, pulling a towel off of a rack and wiping it through her hair while making her way to the bench that she'd laid her new clothes on.

The large shower room actually had a heater in it that activated when the showers were used so that when a person was done with their showers it wouldn't feel as if the room was freezing. She had to admit, with how Spartan-like the rest of the facility was this room was awfully advanced.

"Though I suppose I shouldn't be complaining." Saya thought out loud, drying off the rest of her body.

It wasn't a very good idea to try and exclusively dry your hair, since it would take forever to make it perfectly balanced and set-up, so she would just have to put up with the water that slid down her spine until the hair decided to cooperate on its own terms.

Glancing over at the clothes she would soon be wearing she immediately regretted not having anything else clean enough to wear underneath them as both looked professional, but also rather scratchy.

Once again, though. She should be glad there was anything at all.

Saya sat down on the bench and tried to ignore the cold wood rejecting her bottom as she took her turn waiting for her body to dry naturally.

It was a bit selfish, but Saya sat on the bench until her entire body was almost completely dry before pulling the pants over to her and sliding them on.

A knock sounded at the door to the room and she recognized it as Haji's while taking hold of the dress shirt and tunneling her arms' way through the sleeves.

"Yes, Haji? What is it?" She asked him, now buttoning the shirt up.

"David is here. He says that he needs to speak with you."

That was strange, the serious, objective man almost never rushed to people if something happened.

But she hadn't sensed Alessandro attacking the complex nor heard gunfire.

"I understand. Please just wait a minute. I am almost finished." Saya requested, pulling on a pair of somewhat-bulky men-sized socks.

The shoes she came here with would have to do for now. They didn't match the rest of the bodily accessories at all, but it wasn't as if there would be a high-end shoe-shop in the middle of a military-esque facility.

Shoe-clad feet and a belt later Saya was all ready and, with her old clothes in the same bag she'd brought the new ones in, exited the showers.

Compared to the heat-controlled room the cold hallway chilled her and gave her Goosebumps. But it was bearable.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about, David?" She asked, genuinely curious.

His face looked like it usually did. Except…

Was that _sweat _beginning to form on his forehead?!

Not in the whole time that she'd known him did he ever sweat, except when wounded.

"There was a situation." He spoke simply.

Her expression tightened out of a mix of confusion and worry.

"What kind of situation?" She asked quickly, one person at the forefront of her mind.

Even David seemed to hesitate.

"We're not sure. Something has happened in the bottom level."

Her eyes flared and she snatched the katana that she knew Haji was already holding out.

"Let's go." Saya said as if she were a female David.

The loyal Red Shield operative followed her without so much as a nod, as did Haji.

She barely even noticed the hallways they walked down. Everything seemed to be a blur as if it bordered the line between existence and non-existence due to its unimportance to her.

Whatever it was, she knew Kai had to be involved in it somehow. Otherwise David wouldn't have come himself.

When they arrived at the elevator Saya punched the down button hard enough to break the hard plastic that covered the actual button; simultaneously jamming the thing in the wall.

"Damn." She cursed under her breath, not paying attention to the inhuman strength she had at this moment, despite the fact she rarely drank any more blood than she needed.

Luckily for the three of them and Saya's increasingly big temper the button popped out and the elevator could be heard ascending.

"Saya, you cannot afford to be enraged. It will hinder your ability to fight. Try to focus more." David instructed her from behind.

She resisted the urge to tell him to shut up and took a deep breath.

The anger receded.

"And to think less than ten minutes ago the worst thing I had to worry about was how long it would take for my hair to dry." She thought to herself.

* * *

"Kai?" She asked him in a whisper.

But he wasn't responding.

"Time to get up now."

His eyes didn't open.

"Come on."

* * *

The elevator ride had felt ridiculously long compared to the other times she'd used it. Though that was most likely because of how urgent things were.

Floor numbers seemed to take minutes just to change to a lower floor and at first Saya had hoped that the lights were just messed up and that they would be there soon.

But it had taken forever and she could feel her hand sweating as she held her katana in its sheath.

Finally there was a louder ding than usual and the slight feeling of movement that the elevator gave ceased, signaling that they were on the right floor now.

The elevator doors jutted apart about an inch, and then smoothly slid away into the walls.

And revealed a scene of red.

Like some sort of grotesque canvas, the grey corridor had been covered in an unrealistic amount of blood.

Though the entire hall was not simply a blanket of red, the big blobs of blood that had gathered in the corners of the floor where it met the wall and the crimson drips that led the way down the corridor like some kind of insane bread-crumbs made it more unnerving than if there had simply been a lot of blood.

Her mind couldn't absorb the whole scene right away though. She had to take it in parts.

The blood had come from four guards who had apparently been down here for some reason and all of them look dry and pale, showing that someone had intentionally done something to them to release that much blood.

People did not bleed that much on their own.

All of the doors in the hall had been smashed in, pried open or otherwise manipulated so that whatever was inside could get _outside_. Though most of the cells

But there had only been one person down here-

Saya gasped.

"Only one person." She repeated her thoughts in an almost machine-like manner, taking slow steps down the hall.

"Only one person who could do all of this to people and make it so macabre."

Her hand gripped the sheath so tight it felt like the hardwood scabbard was going to break.

"Only one person who would break all of these doors and turn the hallway into some kind of bloody opera scene."

Saya's sword hand's fingers were twitching.

"Only one person… who could be this horrible."

The blood drips that led down the hallway turned into drops the further down it went, which in turn became puddles, those puddles eventually turning into a long, bloody smear that led a crimson path to-

"Diva." Saya answered the statements she'd made like there was a bad taste in her mouth, seeing the girl who looked everything like her, but who was anything _but _her.

The angel-like demon was knelt above someone and facing away from her. Her long, bloodied hair hiding any facial expressions.

Saya's pace quickened to a fast walk as she made her way towards the chaotic twin of hers.

As her eyes turned a vibrant red they narrowed as well, focusing on killing this person who shouldn't have been allowed to live up to now to begin with.

She noticed someone lying on her lap they closer she got and immediately noticed the very young man's hardened but still teenage-like features.

His white dress shirt, that hadn't been taken off since the opera, was now a slightly light red. And his already black pants looked darker since they were drenched in blood.

The once-light-brown hair had become died red as well.

But what stood out most was a tear in the chest area of his shirt, and the red muscle that she could see beneath.

Saya couldn't even say her sadistic, insane sister's name as the blade seem to jump from its sheath and she threw the piece of insignificant wood to the floor, breaking into a berserker-run.

She let out an animalistic grunt that echoed her massacre back in Vietnam. But was too overwhelmed with the desire to destroy her enemy to care.

Her hand slammed itself on the blade and then dragged her palm down it, producing an ugly gash that caused her blood to spill onto the weapon.

"A murderous little witch! That's all you'll ever be!" Saya yelled, running towards her enemy.


	17. retsnomisunderstood

"So you've been locked in here since you were born?"

Diva's absence of an answer seemed to be an answer in-of itself.

"That's so sad."

Her eyes lowered and she looked into a corner, almost feeling embarrassed.

But… she was too unhappy to feel like that right now.

Really, she'd always felt lonely.

The only things that had known about her being here didn't seem to care all that much.

Certainly, none of them had tried to befriend her

Saya, though, had given her a name and even offered for them to be friends soon after they first talked to each other.

It wasn't the biggest dream she'd had, but then again, Diva had never seen any of her dreams come true.

And when Saya had come up to her room, the two only separated by seemingly-thin barriers, Diva was, as far as she could tell, overjoyed.

But what she hadn't known was that when Saya left it bothered her that much more to be alone than it had before.

Saya always came back though. Something that made Diva's world, however tiny it was, complete.

It was Springtime now, her favorite time of the year, and both of them could stand to talk for quite a while during this season.

"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter." She repeated to herself in her head, interested that they all had names for the different parts of the year.

_She _had a name _too _though! And it was something that would have filled her with pride!

If her spirit was that strong.

Saya always told her such interesting things about the outside world, and she had always been eager to absorb whatever information she could.

But she wanted to go outside, and escape from this place, and be with _Saya_!

_She _wanted to taste what freshly-cooked steak was like! _She _wanted to know what it felt like to take a warm bath! To smell all kinds of flower, to see the wide open fields of corn, to hear a fire cracking as she lay in a warm bed, going to sleep to dream.

She wanted to…

"Live." She thought out loud.

"What is it, Diva?" Saya asked her, seeming to have heard her.

The girl blinked and then looked up at the door.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering what it would be like to be free."

* * *

"Diva!" Saya screamed, swinging the already-raised sword down at her horribly evil sister.

She didn't move.

Yet when her sword struck down it met with some kind of resistance; the actual thing not visible for a moment, on account of the sparks that came from the two offending pieces of metal.

Her eyes widened and the murderous color faded from them when she saw it was Kai.

His gun, the one that used to be their father's, was held in both hands, the finger-guard being the obstruction that had kept Saya from bisecting her twin.

Her mouth gaped as she stopped pushing down on the sword, though she hadn't withdrawn it yet.

"Kai? But why are you?…" She trailed off, and saw that even though her sword was simply lying on top of his gun, he still found it exceedingly difficult to hold the piece of metal up.

"It's not what it looks like." Was all he said before dropping his gun back to the floor and falling forward.

She quickly pulled back the sword so it wouldn't pierce into him, but wasn't able to keep him from falling to the floor before-

Diva grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back and away from the hard ground, to lie in her lap again.

It was a tempting idea to scowl and tear him away from her, but it wouldn't be a good idea to move him like that with the state he was in.

And he'd said that it wasn't what it looked like, so-

"I won't kill her. Not yet, anyway." Saya confirmed to herself, wanting to know what was going on.

She admitted that if Diva's powers had returned, there wouldn't have been any need to do all of this. And while it was quite possible that she could have decided to anyway just for something to do, Saya doubted she would have this much damage to Kai.

"Not to mention she was always picky about people's blood- and Kai wouldn't have stopped me if it was her."

So instead of the previous two actions, Saya simply frowned and walked back the way they'd come.

"David, please have people come down here to help Kai. He's hurt very badly." She asked respectfully while making her way towards the sheath that lie on the ground.

The man lowered his gun but didn't holster it.

He hadn't heard what Kai said, but knew it must have been something important if Diva wasn't lying I two pieces right now.

"And what about-"

"I'll bring her to the room Haji and I will stay in. That way we can be sure she won't do anything."

David stood still for a moment, then holstered his favored revolver and pulled a radio from a holder attached to his belt.

She didn't stay by him though to listen to the conversation and made her way back over to Diva, Haji now accompanying her.

Her sister still hadn't spoken and still didn't look back at her.

For a few moments Saya just stood there, trying to reinforce her self-control.

"Time to have a sleepover?" Her younger twin finally spoke up, apparently having heard the short exchange between the two of them.

It was several seconds before Saya responded. But "come on" was all she could manage to say.

Diva pulled her legs out from underneath Kai's back and slowly lowered him to the ground.

She couldn't be sure, but a quick smile seemed to flash on and off of Diva's face before she pushed herself up and faced her sister.

"He promised he wouldn't let you kill me yet." Diva said, barely above a whisper, a sad smile on her face.

Saya used up most of the self-control she'd been storing up just to say "let's go".

The three of them walked towards the elevator, Saya in front of the girl, Haji in back of her.

* * *

"No! Damnit!" He yelled, kicking a rock off the cliff and halfway across the valley.

His fists tightened and his short, managed fingernails cut into his palms.

That didn't matter though.

"Why the hell didn't the short-haired one kill her?!"

A growl built itself up at the very bottom of his throat, as if he were a wolf pissed off at another one being in its territory.

"You _kill _her! You _don't _give her the chance to be happy! _You_!!!!"

The image of an immaculate girl in her twenties with pale skin and blue eyes faded into his head.

Her long black hair accentuated the expensive old-style shirt that she word which had long, elegant "cuffs" at the end that covered her hands up to the first knuckle.

A long black skirt of the same material and design covered her legs and though she wore rings on every finger, the girl could barely ever be seen with shoes on.

A day that she didn't smile was a day filled with cold rain, muddy ground and unlit lamps or candles.

Her name…

"One with her name, the other with her looks." Alessandro thought to himself.

The same girl kissing a blonde-haired man with an effeminate appearance about him made Alessandro's eyes bulge and caused blood to fall from his eyes.

The growl roared up his throat and he shattered the air with his howl.

* * *

Saya pushed open the unlocked door with little enthusiasm and was acting like she had been told to go to her room, more than deciding to herself to take a rest.

Diva followed in after her and, despite seeming to not like the room, seemed to relent that it was better than the other one had been.

Haji was the last to enter the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

The whole room was rather cramped, but there was a bed, another door that led to a bathroom, and a closet to put clothes in.

As well, there seemed to be enough room for an extra mattress.

Not that she would need another one, as Haji didn't sleep.

Making sure the mattress was firmly up against the wall, Saya lay the sheathed sword down on the mattress where the two things met, and lied down on it as well.

Haji stood by the door and didn't say a word but Diva seemed somewhat enthusiastic about the situation and moved over to lay on the bed with Saya.

This was something she personally didn't know until the mattress at her back fell away and a hand began to come around her stomach.

Saya pushed the affectionate girl away, and unintentionally made her fall off and slam her head on the hard floor.

The sound the collision made caused Saya to wince, but, with a shaky exhale, she managed to ignore it.

Diva didn't say anything, and didn't try to get back up on the bed.

She just lay down on the cold floor, alone.

* * *

Sorry, Envy01-and-monkeyKing-01lover, I can't slow down. Ha. But I'm sure that people who take longer to do their chapters also put more detail in them. This is just my style; quick and simple. Anyway, I've got a pretty good idea for some next chapters, so there may even possibly be more than one chapter a day. No promises. But it _is _possible.


	18. Two girls and the cage that divides them

"You really want to come in here and see me?" Diva asked Saya, surprised and feeling happy that someone wanted to come see her.

"That's right!" Saya responded enthusiastically from the other side of the prison door.

"But you can't get the door open." She commented, sinking back into depression.

"Even if you could, I'm in a cage. We would still be separated."

Saya's frustration could be heard from the other side of the door.

"You can't think like that! Be more positive, Diva! Even if I can't be right next to you, if it's just a cage we can touch each other and see each other and everything!" The girl responded.

Diva blinked.

"But how can you get in here if you can't get through the door?"

At that question, the charismatic girl seemed at a loss. It wasn't as if she could just hop in the window-

"I've got it!" Saya spoke up, startling Diva even though they were quite far apart and separated by a door.

Her friend's shear spirit was overwhelming; akin to when you go from a pitch-black house to outside during the winter.

That's one of the things Saya had talked about anyway. Diva had never been in such a situation. She hadn't even known what a house was really meant for before Saya told her about it.

They had so many rooms where Saya lived! It sounded really big!

Diva was glad her friend had a nice place to live. She just…wished _she _did _too_.

"I'll get some long rope and tie it around something like a rock! Then I'll throw it up in here and you catch it!"

Her head tilted in curiosity, though she knew Saya could not see the gesture.

"How will that help?" She wondered aloud.

Saya could be heard pressing against the door to the "room".

"If you catch it and hold it I can climb up here! We can do the same thing when I have to leave!"

Diva swallowed.

She didn't like to hear Saya ever talk about leaving.

"When will we do that?" She asked, still unable to grasp the concept due to her never being taught anything significant by Amshel.

"Right now! I'll go and get the rope and the rock and I'll come right back! I don't have anything else to do today, so no one will interrupt us!"

The girl pulled her legs in and under the cloak, despite it not being cold anymore.

"You'll come back?" She asked, it always being the way she ended their visit when Saya announced she was leaving.

"I promise I will."

* * *

She briefly woke as the dream ended, and the smile her mouth had formed while the pleasant dream was going on faded away.

Diva turned towards the bed, wanting to face towards her sister even if she couldn't be near her, and drifted off to sleep once again.

* * *

"Diva!" Are you there?!" Saya voice hollered up at her from far below.

She turned herself around, now facing the wall that separated the two friends.

As well as the dozens and dozens of feet down.

"Yes." She whispered.

No matter how quiet she spoke, Saya was always able to hear her.

"I found everything I needed! Are you ready?"

Diva's body, despite being malnourished, suddenly surged with energy, and she stood up, facing the wall.

"Yes."

"Okay! I'm throwing it now! Try to catch it!"

She looked at the two windows that adorned this specific wall; one was within her cell, while the other was right outside it.

A few seconds later she heard Saya give a sound of strain and effort, and a few seconds more a rock, like the ones in her cell but smaller and a groove in the middle, flew up through the window that lie right outside her cell.

It landed with a loud noise that hurt Diva's ears, but then began to slide back up towards the window, trying to escape.

But she wasn't going to let it.

The lonely girl moved across the distance faster than she ever had and surprised herself, but reached out at the stone as it slid up the wall and grasped the hard texture right before it began to slide out.

"Nice job saving the stone!" Saya yelled up to her in praise, making Diva feel better; being praised for something other than standing still while-

The rope began to pull down and Diva had to pull the rock back into her cell, facing away from the bars and holding the thing with both hands as the rope continued to strain until she felt the rock once again being pulled back towards the window.

However, her friend was trying to come see her. Coming to _see_ _her_. There was no way she would let the rock descend back to the ground, and held the rock perfectly still as Saya could be heard and felt pulling her way up the wall.

It felt like they were close already, Diva helping her friend come see her, her friend _wanting _to come see her.

A minute or two passed by before and Saya's sounds of effort grew louder and closer as the moments ticked by until eventually her friend emerged at the window and crawled her way up into the tower.

Diva finally let the rock fall, the thing falling straight down to the floor instead of being pulled away.

She turned towards her friend, Saya-

And saw herself staring back.

No. It was her, but not her.

"She" had brown eyes and a pretty pink dress, as well as perfectly straight, adorned black hair something covered her lips as well that made them look even prettier than they normally would have been.

"Saya…" She thought out loud as her friend pushed herself up and brushed off her dress before looking at her again.

"You look just like me!" Saya stated, smiling widely.

"I…don't." Diva said, turning away in embarrassment.

"What's wrong, Diva?" Saya asked her from behind, sounding upset.

"You're beautiful. I'm… just dirty."

A few moments of silence passed by, and she honestly began to wonder if Saya had just vanished into thin air.

But then Saya's shoes clattered across the floor towards her and she felt two arms come through the bars that separated them and closed around her chest.

She blinked in confusion, wondering what this was.

"What? Haven't you ever gotten a _hug_ before?" Saya asked her, seeming amused.

The "hug" felt nice.

"No." She admitted.

The arms loosened and came away from her chest before gripping her shoulders and turning Diva back around to face her beautiful friend.

"Diva, you're every bit as beautiful as I am. And your voice is _beyond _that! I could never hope to sing like that! Besides, don't you remember? Your _full _name?"

Once again she blinked, confused.

"Diva the princess, with the beautiful singing voice. You're not just dirty. Besides, being locked up in here all this time and still smelling like a…"

Saya seemed surprised.

"Like what?" She asked, feeling a bit self-conscious now.

"You smell like a- a _flower_."

"Is that _good_?" She inquired, really not knowing.

Her friend chuckled.

"I'm jealous! I have to put on _perfume _to smell like a flower!"

"What is that?"

Saya seemed more surprised than usual.

"Perfume is something you put on yourself to make you smell a certain way; different flowers, spices, sugars, I've even heard there is some kind that makes you smell like _chocolate_! But who wants to smell like chocolate anyway? Right?"

Diva continued to pear ponderously at her friend.

"You don't know what _chocolate _is _either_?! Oh there's so many things I want to share with you!" Saya commenting as she withdrew her arms from the cage.

But Diva didn't let her escape entirely and grabbed her friends hands in a little grip.

"You are not leaving _now_ are you?" She asked with some urgency.

Saya's hands gripped her back.

"Of course not. There are so many things for us to talk about."

She nodded, not sure exactly what things she meant, but wanting her to stay for as long as she could, regardless of the reasons.

"But first…" Her friend said with a strange kind of smile.

"Why don't you go get that cloak?" Saya asked, her grip on Diva's hands loosening.

She did not know what bothered her about the girl not having anything to cover herself, but was eager to please her friend and nodded once again before letting go of Saya's hands, walking quickly over to the dirty old cloak and pulling it on.

"_And_…" Saya began, making Diva turn around extra fast to see what her friend was thinking about.

"The next time I come back I'll bring you a dress of your own!"

So much energy and excitement flooded through her body that she was actually incapable of moving, feeling like the world would split in half if she did so.

"Really?! My own dress?!"

Saya nodded, smiling.

She must know how much this meant to her.

"Like yours?" She continued, eager to get a picture of the to-be-hers dress in her head.

Saya frowned and brought a finger up to her mouth, looking up in thought.

"Well, the dresses I usually wear are so hard to get on and keep on. Not to mention they get really dirty really quickly. But…"

Diva walked over to the bars, and hopped back when Saya burst out into an "aha"!

"I've got it! There's a dress that someone got me a while ago, but I never wore it because blue and white aren't really my colors. But it would look _perfect _on you!"

Diva lifted on arm and then the other, examining herself.

"Really? Perfect?"

Saya nodded with great enthusiasm.

"Yes! Perfect. I'll bring it tomorrow. Though let's try to get me up through _that _window next time." Saya said, pointing at the window that had access to her cell.

Diva nodded, barely able to wait.

Saya walked over to the door of Diva's cage and suddenly the happy atmosphere dissipated.

She'd almost forgotten about the box of bars.

"I don't understand though, Diva. Why would someone do this to you?"

Her eyes moved from one part of the floor to another, still unable to come up with an answer to the question despite having asked it herself many times before.

"Maybe… I did something bad." She said, though it was really more of a guess.

Saya pushed against the door made of metal bars and made it rattle, despite the fact it would probably never fall apart.

"That's nonsense! What could you have done when you were just born that made it okay for them to do this to you?!"

Diva looked up at Saya's face, causing the anger to fade from it.

"Even more than that, you don't even know how horrible this is. That's probably the worst part of all; that living like this is normal for you. I mean, it's just…" Saya trailed off.

Her gaze returned to the floor.

"You said someone comes by every once in a while, right?" Her friend asked her, trying to change the subject.

"Yes. She responded hesitantly.

"Every Saturday, I think."

It was difficult to put the "Days of the week" into perspective since the things had only existed to her until now. Especially because Amshel had never told her what day it was when he came by.

"What about food and water?"

"Oh I get that every Saturday too."

Saya gave a sigh before she sat down on the floor by the bar door.

Diva walked over to the door.

"Are you jealous again?" She asked, attempting a "joke" herself while walking over to where Saya was sitting, though on the inside of the prison.

Saya brought her legs up to her body and faced the cell.

"I…get at least three big meals a day. More if I want."

Diva looked from side to side, finding it hard to believe but not really upset.

Saya got to eat lots of _food_ _too_. On top of everything else. It was nice to have a friend who got to do that stuff. It made Diva happy that Saya had such a nice time outside.

But, she still wished it could be the same for her.

"Oh. I guess not then." Diva offered, hoping Saya wasn't angry that her joke had been bad as she sat down as well.

"I'll bring you some chocolate as soon as I can too. Maybe we can binge together."

Diva looked at Saya's face.

"Binge?"

Her friend nodded.

"Yes. It's when you eat more food than you're allowed to."

"It must be nice." She spoke, trying to smile.

Saya frowned again and moved right up next to the door.

"Diva, lay down."

Her head tilted in curiosity, but she did so; ignoring the coldness of the stone floor since her cloak was covering the part of her that Saya could see.

A moment later Saya lay down as well, and she reached through the bars, taking one of Diva's hands into her own before closing her eyes.

"Let's take a nap together." Her friend told her.

Diva suddenly became very tired and nodded.

She closed her eyes, and squeezed Saya's hand.

* * *

Sanitel, I can certainly understand how it might not make sense that Kai can hold back a Chiropterans' attack. But since Saya barely ever drinks blood unless she's on the verge of death, her powers are just above that of a human's. Which is why you never see her teleporting around like most of the other advanced chiropterans do. I always thought that because of this, Saya's real strength only comes out when she's attacking Chiropterans. (And in that case I still think it's ridiculous she can cut a giant bat-gorilla monster in half with a single sword swing. But whatever) Aside from that... it helped the story. So if it wasn't possible, it _became _possible. haha.


	19. The vanishing void

"Now, let's see…" Saya said to herself, opening one of the oak closet doors to look for the dress.

She just _knew_ it was in here! The only problem was that she had so many dresses it was hard to remember exactly where every one of them was.

The fact that they were always cleaned by a servant within the castle also made it more difficult to find a specific one because she didn't know where they were put after being cleaned.

Normally, things just weren't worth the effort, but if this could get a _real _smile out of Diva, then it would be more than worth it.

She pushed all of the dresses to and fro, looking for the white one with the blue trim along the ends.

It was hard to believe that Diva didn't even have any clothes. Saya was really starting to think that she should tell Joel about her deprived friend. This whole place belonged to him, he should be able to help her out.

"Food only once a week? Never being able to go outside? I can't imagine how horrible that is, to live like that." Saya spoke to herself as she closed the closet door. There were three closets along the wall and the dress had to be in one of the other two.

Saya yawned while making her way over to the next closet, her sleeping schedule somewhat ruined from how she'd stayed and napped with Diva. Not that it hadn't been worth it. It had.

To _her _it had been uncomfortable. Sure, She almost never napped on top of anything hard, and when she did it was on wooden benches in a courtyard of the estate. Not on a stone floor. But to Diva, it was probably the best nap she'd ever had.

"I just wish she didn't have to be awake for me to leave. I would have liked to of left while she was still sleeping." Saya thought out loud while opening the second closet.

It must have been very hard to help her friend leave. But today they would get to be right next to each other and everything. So that should make up for it.

"I don't know if I'll be able to avoid Haji when I head for the tower, though." She continued.

Haji wasn't a bad person. He was a kind person, if he wasn't being a bit rude. But she didn't think he would understand what kind of situation they were in. If he found out the best thing he could do would be to tell someone else, and then _they _would want to be around Diva too. While the worst thing would be to keep her from seeing Diva at all.

"Not that I'd ever let him keep me from seeing her, of course." The girl thought with a smile.

It wasn't here either. Just a bunch of pink dresses again.

"Oh dear." Saya said to herself, standing back up to her full height.

"What will I do if I can't find it? I promised Diva I would do it and everything."

She'd found it a bit strange how her friend looked just like her except for the eye color. But it made a kind of sense. No one wanted to be her friend. She wanted a friend. And she wanted to be someone _else's _friend. So _she _would be her friend

Any other differences between their appearances was simply because Diva didn't have any way to take care of her hair. Who knew how often it was that she even got to _bathe_?

Saya clapped her hands together and focused.

"Find the dress." She told herself, focusing completely on her goal.

It was difficult, but doable.

"Just walk over to the closet, open the doors, and it'll be there." Saya repeated a few times before opening the closet doors.

She smiled as her eyes caught sight of a long folded-up piece of white and blue fabric.

"There you are."

* * *

Her eyes opened and looked out at the pitch-black room.

"Another dream about the past." She thought to herself, thinking that this was, aside from before the opera, the worst possible time to have a dream where she and Diva were friends.

Even assuming Diva _wasn't _the one who had done that to Kai, and if it was Alessandro, it still didn't change the fact that Diva was a Chiropteran. And, more importantly, that she _acted _like a Chiropteran.

Haji and Riku both proved that they could overcome the urge to drink blood and she'd tried her best to go on without it as often as possible. But Diva would kill someone and drink their blood, and then forget about them like she'd just stopped for a juice box.

Not to mention there was no way her… relative, would change her ways.

Diva was just as much an enemy as Alessandro. She just wasn't acting hostile towards them at the _moment_. As soon as they killed the supposed "king" she would probably leap at the nearest human.

What made it so hard was that Kai was beginning to think he could change her. Domesticate her, like a wild animal. But Diva, while akin to a wild animal, wasn't going to change so easily.

This meant that Kai was trying to accomplish something that was impossible. And that his attempts to do so were putting him in unnecessary situations for someone like _her_.

"Or maybe you're just thinking that because _you _gave _up _on her." An unwanted inner voice told her coldly.

"Be quiet." She told it out loud, turning over and closing her eyes again.

Saya tried to pretend that she wasn't facing Diva as she fell asleep.

* * *

"Diva! Are you awake?!?" She yelled up at the window to Diva's actual cell.

Right after she found the dress, Saya had rushed over here to give Diva her new clothes.

Or rather, her first _real _ones.

"Yes." A slightly excited voice whispered down to her.

She knew what was coming.

"Toss the rope down for me, will you? I got you what I promised I would."

The long length of rope was dropped down before she could even breath after the sentence and just made Saya more eager to do this.

She smiled and looked at the folded dress in her arms.

After a moment she decided that it would be best to tie the sleeves around her neck and carry it up that way, so she could have full-use of her arms.

Saya did so and walked over to the rope.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Saya giggled for a moment at how excited Diva sounded.

Not that it could be heard in her voice. Saya was just able to feel what her friend felt for some reason.

She took hold of the rope and began her ascent.

Climbing a stone wall that goes up very high is scary enough. But it might not be so hard if she were wearing pants, like she was allowed to while practicing fencing.

The ankle-length formal dress wasn't exactly giving her much room to put her feet on, or letting her lift her legs very high.

But though it took a little while longer today, Saya managed to reach the top window and began to climb up inside-

-when the rope suddenly slid down and she felt herself descending towards the ground.

The engraved brick she'd used to get the rope up into the tower slid out across the "window-sill" and fell down past her.

Saya, desperate not to make the great fall, scrambled at the edge of the window while catching the brick in-between her shoes.

However, the extra weight doomed her already-slim chances of keeping herself from falling and her hands lost their grip on the soft-stone.

As she closed her eyes and prepared for impact, however, she heard her own voice cry out her name, and felt something grab her wrist, ceasing her descent.

In a few seconds Saya worked up the courage to peek out and up at what had happened.

Reaching down from the windowsill was a pale, nude version of her whose otherwise porcelain skin was red where the rock was digging into her torso.

The girl, Diva, had her eyes closed to concentrate on pulling Saya back up and sweat was forming on her forehead.

"She's hurting herself to keep _me _from being hurt?" Saya asked herself.

Haji and other servants had sacrificed their pleasure for hers before but it was never anything like this.

Saya didn't know what was bothering Diva more; the strain of keeping her from falling, or the unbearable pressure that was being applied to her ribs from the stone, but regardless of what caused it, her friend endured it and slowly managed to pull her up until the two could reach each other with their other hands and Diva heaved Saya inside; causing both girls to crash into the stone floor, one on top of the other, and for Saya's feet to let go of the brick, luckily after it was inside the room.

The mirror-looking friends gazed at each other from their respective positions until Saya dove her arms underneath Diva's body and gave her a gigantic hug.

"Thank you so much, Diva! If you hadn't grabbed my wrist I would've fallen all the way down!"

She looked up at her friend, still keeping the hug in full form.

A very faint pink tone revealed her suppressed blush.

"You are… welcome" She responded, trying to return the smile.

She deepened the hug.

"Um, Saya?"

"What is it?"

"Could you please let go? I like this, but it hurts."

She suddenly remembered Diva's bruising from holding her aloft, and quickly separated from her friend, but not before checking the girl's lower chest to make sure everything was back to normal.

It looked the same as it usually did, meaning it had healed, and Saya stood up, loosening the sleeves of the dress that had thankfully remained on her back as Diva stood up as well, eyeing the garment as if it were holy.

"Well, here it is." She said, smiling and holding the dress up in front of Diva's eager eyes.

The blue orbs scanned the dress completely, going over every detail, and repeated the process before she spoke up again.

"Is that really for me?"

Saya nodded.

"Of course! Here, let me help you put it on." She offered, gesturing for Diva to turn around.

However, her socially-deprived friend had no experience with gestures so she did not understand, only continued looking at the dress in eager anticipation.

She laughed at her best friend while spinning her around to face away.

"Stick up your arms."

They bolted into the air almost quicker than she could see.

Saya pooled the dress together so she could hold the whole thing in her hands and pulled it down onto Diva, making sure the sleeves were properly covering her arms, and continued all the way down until it was finished.

Luckily for Diva, it was a simple dress; one that did not require the experience needed to get on the more difficult ones, like the dress Saya herself currently wore.

She spun Diva around again and reached over behind her shoulder, pulling out her friend's long hair and letting it fall down against the back of the dress.

A bit of straightening and aligning later and Diva had her very own dress.

Surprisingly, she spent quite a while simply looking it over, an overwhelmed expression on her face.

Then her whole body lunged forward and she engaged her very first own hug with Saya, quite a tight one by the way.

"Thank you so much!" Her friend said, voice filled with glee.

Saya had seen her face just before she engaged the hug, and all of the effort and near-fatal falling had definitely been worth Diva's first real smile.

She hugged her friend back and didn't know how long the embrace went on.

Eventually when Diva's hold loosened, Saya separated from the hug and sat down on the ground.

"Come on, let's play a game."

Diva quickly obliged and sat down instantly.

"What game?"

"Hmmmm." Saya wondered, frowning in thought and looking up at the ceiling.

"Well, we already played dress-up." She teased, making Diva beam in satisfaction as she rubbed the dress against herself, apparently enjoying the feeling.

"Yes! We did!"

"But let's see. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something.

They couldn't do anything that required toys or other activities that needed extra things to work. Still, there _was one _thing they could do.

"Let's play tag!"

Diva's head tilted in curiosity and Saya began explaining.

* * *

Again, Saya woke up, but this time, she was unable to think about the dream at all.

She was absolutely too tired to go over that serious of a debate in her head now.

The girl glanced at the alarm clock that sat on top of the simple shelf that stuck out from the wall that functioned as the surface of an end table.

It was already eight in the morning? She felt like she'd just gone to sleep like a minute ago.

Sighing as she did so, Saya pulled the blankets from her body and slid her legs over the edge of the bed, pretending she didn't feel just how cold it was.

Diva appeared to be sleeping, but it was time to wake up.

So Saya walked over her and nudged the girl with a foot, waking up the sleeping person.

"Come on, it's time to wake up." She told her coldly.

The girl in question was frowning, almost looking like she was going to cry, and her eyes looked like they were going to spill tears any moment.

Why that was, Saya didn't know, and she walked over to her shoes, sliding them on and tying them, her gaze never faltering from which shoe she was tying.

Haji was, expectedly, standing near the door, gazing patiently at her.

Saya picked up her sword from the bed and faced towards the door, her bodyguard and friend moving to allow her passage.

She momentarily returned her attention to Diva and told her to get up harsher than she'd spoken before.

"You're it." She added with a soft tone, before leaving the room.

* * *

This is the last mainly-flashback chapter for now. Though whenever it's from the one of the sisters' perspectives there may be another flashback relevant to what's going on.

Also, anything that seems unrealistic(in terms of staying true to the universe of Blood+) such as Saya dying if she fell, isn't true, she just doesn't know about that.


	20. Sisters

"…_it_?" Diva asked Saya as her sister left the room.

Her eyes hurt.

Why did they hurt?

Haji followed after Saya and Diva scrambled up from the ground.

"Saya-"

"I said that we need to go." Her sister spoke like she had before.

But she _knew_ Saya had said that!

Her big sister was being mean again, but Diva was more than content with that single sentence and smiled, walking after her.

"Okay!" She said enthusiastically, following her big sis out the door.

Saya regarded her like an over-energetic child, which might or might not have mattered to Diva, had she put any thought into it as opposed to trying to catch up with her twin.

"So, where are we going?" She asked happily.

They were walking down some random hall. It looked like all the other ones. She didn't care about them.

"First we're going to get you something new to wear. That outfit certainly isn't modest.

She plucked at her dress, or rather, the wholes in it.

"You mean like how you got me my first dress?" She asked, remembering the fond memory.

Her sister was hesitant to respond.

"You just can't walk around like this. It's…"

She examined the torn-up dress a bit more thoroughly.

"Well _I _thought it was kind of cute." Diva responded, frowning now.

"That's not what I meant." Saya responded, no hint in her tone that there would be anymore conversation.

Diva pulled a long lock of her black hair out and twiddled it as they walked, since there wasn't a single un-boring thing to look at as they walked down the halls. Her expression now a mostly neutral one.

Everything around here was so boring and droll. It was the kind of thing that was so uninteresting that it actually made you crave food or water.

It was weird, but she was starting to get thirsty.

They approached some x-shape hallway part. Another hall crisscrossed with the one they were in now and as she walked by her gaze fell onto a good-looking man bent over something.

Her feet stopped moving and she gazed in his direction, here eyes waiting with inhuman, cat-like patience.

Saya had stopped walking by now as well, and was looking at her, a serious expression on her face.

"I'm thirsty." She stated, walking towards the man.

"Diva." Her sister spoke seriously from behind.

She didn't acknowledge the girl.

"Diva!" The elder sister said again, this time with more of a warning in her voice.

Still, she didn't stop walking towards the man.

Stopping just in back of the man she reached upwards towards his neck.

"Really thirsty." She thought.

Something sounded like a click, but she ignored it.

She tapped the man on the back of his shoulder, causing him to stand upright and look down at her.

"Hey, do mind if I have something to drink? I'm really thirsty!" She asked, a big smile on her face.

For some reason whenever she acted this way towards someone they acted strangely, but everyone always did as she asked.

_Why_, she never knew nor cared about and the man moved away from the drinking fountain he'd been leaning over and walked down the adjoining hall.

Making sure her hair wasn't going to fall in front of her face, Diva bent over and sipped water from the water fountain.

The sound from before could be heard again, though this time in reverse.

When she was finished the now-satisfied girl licked any remaining water from her lips and turned around to face Saya.

"Okay. We can go now." She stated happily.

* * *

Saya let her hand lower the sheath back to its normal "traveling position" and continued down the hall once again.

She'd been a heartbeat away from killing her sister again.

It was a weird feeling, to have the desire or urge to kill your own twin from time to time like it was some kind of casual thought. Personally, the fact that it was so normal for her now was more upsetting than anything else.

The "trip" to the supply office where David had gotten her the clothes she wore now had taken a while, but there were no more stressful situations along the way and Diva had remained, for the most part, relatively quiet.

Which was good. Since knowing how infamous she was among the privy members of the Red Shield it wouldn't have been a positive thing if they knew who she was. It was a miracle they'd gotten this far without her identity being discovered to begin with.

The "lobby" that the supply office was in really resembled more of a larger-than-normal room with an office sticking out of it, but then again, that was what some lobbies were.

The floor in this area was the same grey color, but a bit shinier and sturdy-but-uncomfortable-looking benches made lines for people to sit in should there ever be any situation that required waiting.

Waist-high walls, full-wall windows and a single door on the side was what made up the front of the supply office, a man with a military-like demeanor sat in a chair in front of the window, filling out some manner of paperwork.

"You sit down here, I'll go and get your clothes."

Diva was already making herself at home on the stocky-looking benches like it was a bed made of marshmallows.

With an internal sigh, Saya walked up to the middle-window of the supply office, which was slid open, and asked if there were another pair of the same kinds of clothes that she'd gotten yesterday.

"You sure you don't want me to point you towards the laundry room?" The man asked.

"Actually, I only have these clothes. The ones I came here with…aren't usable. So I need another change of clothes to wear while I clean these."

The man seemed skeptical of her explanation, possibly because her clothes were still as clean as they had been when she'd first gotten them. But she couldn't risk telling him what they were really for in case he knew who Diva really was.

"Okay. But I don't have another bag to put them in."

Saya shook her head casually.

"That's fine."

He pushed the chair out so he could step away from the window and then walked around it, heading back into the storeroom where everything was held.

The waiting girl glanced back at her sister to make sure she was still being cooperative and noticed that she was napping on one of the benches.

"She always _did _like her naps."

It took a moment before Saya realized she'd actually thought that and immediately ceased that train of thought.

They weren't at the point where Saya could let down her guard yet.

As she sifted through her thoughts the man came back up to the front and handed her the folded-up clothes, which she took with one hand and pressed against her chest, since the other was busy holding the sword.

"I'm sorry, but I had one more thing to ask of you."

"What is it?" The man asked, seeming to be growing impatient.

"Do you sell some strawberries here?"

His expression only shifted minutely as he took it in.

She admitted that this was a bit cliché but it worked.

Recognizing the code, he reached under the windows and pulled something out from a shelf beneath it and stuck the thing-in-question between the clothes he'd just given her.

"There is only half-an-hour left." He informed her.

Saya nodded and thanked him for his help, then turned back towards Diva and Haji.

As she approached them her sister's eyes flickered open and gazed at the clothes.

"Okay, let's keep going."

Diva gave a little yawn as she rubbed one of her eyes with a hand and pushed herself lazily off the couch.

"Where are we going now?" She inquired.

"The showers. You need to take one."

Her sister's expression turned into a pout and she sniffed the air.

"Not because you smell. Just to get clean."

The twin's happy demeanor returned and she nodded.

"Okay then."

Saya made sure not to drop what she was carrying as they began walking away again.

* * *

"Mmmmm!" Was all her sister said as she finished her shower.

Apparently she found the full-room nozzle-head as enjoyable as her elder twin had.

"Saya! Where are the towels?" Her long-haired sister asked, most likely planning on tearing open the lockers until she found them.

She sighed and walked over to her, already holding the towel she knew the childish girl had forgotten to bring.

If this kept up Saya wouldn't be able to think of Diva as anything except her little sister in no time. All of this cute, sister-sister interaction was beginning to whittle away at her resolve.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy it. But it was only a fleeting relationship.

"You didn't bring one with you." She stated to her sister as the towel was pulled from her hand.

Pale shoulders shrugged at her as Diva turned about and began drying herself off.

But there was one thing that she had to do soon that would break this atmosphere anyway.

While Diva used the towel as much as humanly and inhuman possible, Saya walked over to where the new change of clothes was and pulled out the syringe from in-between the pieces of clothing.

She pulled off the covering cap as quietly as she could and held it behind her right leg as her unsuspecting sister finished drying herself off and faced Saya once again, holding the towel up in front of her, making Saya momentarily think of her being even younger than she looked.

The girl was giving her a happy, content smile, and she was about to jab her with a needle.

That wasn't the real problem. What _was _the problem, was that she already felt guilty about it.

The fact that getting ready to do something like this made her insides hurt when it wouldn't cause any long-lasting damage, proved just how much this single hour or so had changed her.

Diva noticed she was hiding something.

"Hey, what's that?" She asked, seeming both interested and eager.

"It's…" She couldn't actually say what it was.

Her little sister shook her head, not understanding.

"Well? What is…"

The smile disappeared from her face.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Saya answered, looking down at the floor.

It wasn't an easy moment for either of them.

Diva held the towel against her body and tried to say something but failed.

Saya looked up just in time to see Diva being incapable of speaking, and once again her gaze lowered.

"C- can it wait?" Her baby sister asked.

Her arm was trembling now.

"The effects of the drug or whatever it is only lasts for twenty-four hours. After that it wears off."

Diva looked down at the floor.

"I see. You have to do this every day?"

Saya's eyes briefly blinked up at Diva, but were down looking at the floor again soon.

"Yes."

"It... it really hurts." She appealed.

"I know. Something about its contents makes it hurt more than it should."

Several moments of silence passed between them, and dripping could be heard coming from the other room.

Then her little sister stepped forward.

"Well, if you try to be nice to me I won't fight."

Saya looked up at her, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

Diva was… smiling. But it wasn't a happy smile.

"Will you please just be my big sister? That's all I want."

Saya stared into Diva's eyes.

She had failed to get some of the water out of her hair, as there were smalls drops sliding down her face.

But they were coming from her eyes.

Somehow, she managed a smile and nodded.

"I promise."

Diva nodded as well, and walked over to Saya.

She started to turn around and bend over like a hospital patient does when a doctor is about to give them a shot, when her big sister touched her shoulder and pulled the girl down onto her, hugging her little sister and not paying any attention to what was in her hands.

Diva hugged her back and they stayed together in silence for several minutes.

Then, without releasing the embrace, Saya asked Diva if she was ready.

A short nod was her answer before the head dug back into her shoulder.

Saya felt herself give a genuine smile and moved the hand with the meaningless object in it, tightened their hug, and used the thing.

Diva's hands gripped her harder for a few seconds, and then it was over.

The thing was tossed over her shoulder and Saya could now hug her baby sister completely and deepened the hugh even more.

They remained still, together, for a long time.

* * *

I tried my best to make it emotional, I hope I did okay with that. Originally Saya wasn't going to feel this way yet, but as the chapter went on, that's the way things turned out.


	21. Sister, brother

"Are you almost finished?" Saya asked her little sister, who had spent quite a bit of time working with the clothes she had been given, as well as the torn up dress.

"Just about." She responded, surprising her with how normal and responsive she was being.

"I guess she _can_ act a bit normal." Saya thought to herself.

Though this was hardly the kind of activity you would see most people doing in their free time.

However, considering most people hadn't been alive since the 1880's, hadn't experienced what it's like to be a "vampire" and haven't stayed a "child" their whole life.

After they'd finally stopped hugging each other, which had been quite a while, Diva had immediately gone to work on some sort of new outfit of hers.

Personally, when this was over, Saya was expecting that she would have to just go and get her sister some new clothes and tell her not to "modify" them.

Luckily, Haji had left the room for them when they were embracing each other, so at least Saya didn't have to feel embarrassed about Diva being fully nude as she worked on the clothes.

As the tearing and cutting continued, Saya's mind drifted off to thinking about how to go about things now.

They couldn't appear to be as close as they were now. At least not at first, so that her objectivity couldn't be doubted. The only reason the two had grown so close in the past hour was because she was sure Diva was not responsible for Kai condition.

"Speaking of that, I have to find out how he's doing as soon as possible. He's too stubborn to die easily, but I still want to check on him." Saya whispered to herself.

"Saya?" Her little sister asked her from the bench she had been sitting on.

Her eyes blinked, and she was looking at the world again.

"What is it?"

As she paid attention, Saya could see that Diva had in fact not done a bad job altering the clothes. The bottom of her dress, which had become almost like a miniskirt after all of the tearing, was worn on her lower body, while the dress shirt had been torn so that it could be tucked beneath the skirt without making it bulge.

Somehow, her little sister had made a tie as well and while she had absolutely no idea how her normally air-headed-like sister knew how to do so, the tie was around her neck, beneath the collar. Though it looked more like it belonged in a schoolgirl costume in college than on an agent.

She now looked like some sort of school-girl. Of a non-innocent nature if she was the critic.

"Diva! How can you wear something like that! The skirt doesn't even reach close to your knees! And the tie! It makes you look-"

Her baby sister began giggling and it took a moment before Saya realized why.

She had just been lecturing Diva on her clothes.

The big-sister "scolding" had been the first one she'd given to Diva ever.

With a sigh, Saya smiled while Diva finished giggling.

"It doesn't look bad though, right?" The long-haired girl asked her.

She shook her head.

"It doesn't look bad. It just looks a bit…inviting."

Diva took a suggestive pose which made Saya blush and go after her to make the childish girl stop acting in this way.

She just _knew _Diva was doing this simply to bother her.

Eventually she caught up to the girl and got her by the wrist.

"It's dangerous to run around when the floor's wet." She told the girl who began giggling again as they say down on a bench and she helped comb her sister's hair, if only with her fingers.

Though their non-aging bodies kept issues such as dandruff from becoming problems they _did _occasionally need to run their hands through it to keep the thing managed. And Diva being the childish girl she was, of course there was never any "time" or desire to properly take care of her long black mane of hair.

However, Diva wanted to keep the little "wisps" of hair that stuck out here and there so Saya left it alone. But not before licking a finger and taking care of one last little problem.

"Ew! Saya! It's like you spat on me!"

She became flustered and told her not to overreact- as her little sister began to giggle again, apparently having been joking.

"You're so serious!"

Deep breathing was the key to get through this situation without messing up Diva's hair completely to get back at her and she told her sister that they needed to go now.

"We can't act as friendly as we are now around other people." She told her, keeping her voice calm and controlled.

Nevertheless, it didn't keep Diva from sniffling and putting on a sad expression.

"You mean, you have to be mean to me?" She asked.

Saya shook her head, hoping this wouldn't get out of hand.

"No. I can still be nice to you. But we can't act as friendly as we are right now. Running around and playing."

Her sister's whole upper body slumped and her long hair seemed to cover her much like that big cowl had all those years ago.

"You mean…we can't be sisters."

She sighed and pushed her way across the bench and pulled her little sister's head down to her shoulder, the girl eagerly accepting the supportive gesture.

"We'll always be sisters, Diva. Even when we were fighting each other. That never changed. Not ever. It's just that if we act around everyone else like we have in here, people will start to question if I can be trusted to guard you. You don't want to go back into that cell do you?"

The head shook itself, Diva not even giving a verbal answer.

As much as Saya wanted to stay here like this as long as Diva needed, they both knew that the longer they remained together like this, the harder it would be for them to act differently once they left the security of the room.

So she pulled her sister away and placed a kiss on her forehead before raising the girl's face to look at her own.

"Don't worry. We can still act like this when others aren't around. It's just when we're "out"."

Diva nodded her head sadly as she wiped beneath her eyes to rub away the beginnings of any tears, and they separated completely.

"Then why don't we just go back to our room and stay there the whole time?" Her sister offered.

"I have to go see how Kai is doing. After that maybe we can go back to my room. Though I'll have to leave to meet with Joel and the others."

At the mention of the word "Joel", one of Diva's hands twitched.

"Yes, let's go see how Kai's doing. I want to know too."

Saya nodded and they both stood up, heading for the door that exited the showers.

* * *

The world was black.

He didn't know why, but everything was just solid darkness.

He felt something, like a hole, in his chest, but couldn't really feel any pain. Nor could he hear, smell, touch or taste anything else.

It was like the instant it took for a bullet to pass through your body, or for a sword to pierce it; you feel something you never experience in real life.

Your body isn't as it should be, and yet it doesn't feel strange. You feel the air blowing through the tender area, the inside of your body never having sustained the bitterness of how the actual world can be.

Then his eyes opened and he thought five words.

"What a load of crap."

Kai had always tried his best not to get too philosophical. It just wasn't his style.

Actions do more than words. At least most of the time. But he'd always explored his own philosophy of life simply by interacting with the world around him, as opposed to being cooped up in a room somewhere pondering what the "meaning of life" was or anything else like that.

Of course, this didn't matter all that much to him when his eyes went from pitch-black darkness to bright-grey walls with lights all around.

Needless to say, he didn't enjoy the transition all that much.

Instantly his eyes snapped shut and Kai groaned at the realization that he had to wake up now.

"Can't be lazy anymore. Too many things to do." He told himself while pushing up off of whatever he'd been lying on-

-and was immediately pushed right back down by soft hands.

Kai forced his eyes open, if only so that they were squinting, to look at the person who'd nudged him back down.

He instantly recognized Saya's beautiful, but always seemingly-troubled face above him.

"The doctors say you aren't healthy enough to get up yet. Just rest and wait." She instructed him, as if it was supposed to be as easy as it was simple.

"Heh." He responded, bringing an arm up to go through his hair, since it was really all he could do.

As he did, Kai remembered what happened and looked back at Saya again.

"Saya, is she…"

His sister shook her head.

"No, she's fine now. Though I didn't want to let her come in here, since I was sure she would jump on top of you and open your wound again."

Kai started to chuckle a bit, but stopped as the vibrations caused his chest to tighten.

He must have been on some sort of painkillers, because it only felt harder to breath, as opposed to there being an immense pain in his chest.

"So she's not locked-up anymore huh? Glad to hear it. I thought for sure you were going to do something after what you saw."

Her soft smile lowered to a neutral expression as she pulled a small chair up beside the bed and sat down in it.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that, if you can."

His hand came back down to rest at his side.

"I'm fine. What did you want to know?"

"Well, first off, was it her who did that to you or was it-"

"Alessandro. The chiropteran king, or whatever he likes to call himself. Yeah, it was him."

She nodded, seeming glad that Diva hadn't been the killer.

"He came after us and drank the blood of the guards who came with us, and then came after the two of us. I tried to stun the guy but he was pretty tough. Not even a grenade was enough to make him stop coming."

Even _Saya_, with her decades of experience fighting chiropterans, was surprised at the news.

A grenade wasn't enough to kill _any _chiropteran, but usually even a strong handgun could at least _stun _them.

"Saya… I can see why you're so worried. It looks like nothing short of a nuclear _bomb _could take _this _guy down."

Kai wasn't normally a pessimistic person, which probably proved to Saya just how strong he was.

"He drank mine and the others' blood to make it look like _Diva _had done it. That way, _you _would kill her. Or something else… I don't know what his problem is, but the guy's picked her out for some reason."

Saya bit her lip for a second, seeming to wonder why Diva had, in particular, been where his hate was focused.

"So," Kai started, having had enough of the dreary talk.

", when can I get outa here?"

She gave an attempt at a smile.

"You still need to stay a while longer. From what I've heard, the wounds will go away, and it's safe to walk around without opening them, but you still need to replenish your blood. Otherwise you might faint."

"Yeah." He conceded, admitting to himself that he'd felt dizzy just by trying to push himself up.

"Well, try to do okay without me, huh?"

She frowned.

"I can take care of myself just fine!" She said, in a pout.

He felt himself give a tired smile.

"You haven't acted like that for years." He stated, seeming to surprise her.

"I-" She couldn't manage a whole response.

He closed his eyes.

"It's not a _bad _thing. And it proves something else."

She leaned in somewhat.

"What?"

"That you two _can _live together."

She swallowed while backing away. But managed a relieved smile.

"Thank you, Kai. It means a lot."

"Silly girl. You don't have to thank me for _anything_."

She nodded.

"Thank- I appreciate it."

He opened his eyes again.

"Go on. Go have fun with her."

After a moment she nodded appreciatively and put a hand on one of his.

"I'll see you again soon."

Kai nodded.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll be fine in no time."

Her hand squeezed his before she moved away and left the room, walking like she was weightless.

* * *

I'm not really satisfied with the ending of the chapter, but I suppose there doesn't absolutely have to be a dramatic closing to all of them.


	22. Wartime decisions

The area looked like a madman with a chainsaw had wandered in. Trees lay broken, their stumps nothing but tatters with roots. Large rocks jutted out of the ground, the broken, scattered remains of several boulders. A bear roamed by the clearing, saw its inhabitant, and scurried away. Alessandro glared at the large animal as he rose from the ground, heaving. His teeth were still elongated, his black eyes glistening like obsidian. The air smelled of blood, the result of his sweating. With a deep growl in his throat, he began to regain control. Within a minute the growling had stopped, and he was breathing normally again. Though his trademark grin had not yet returned.

"Well, that was calming. I feel better now." He told the air before readjusting his clothing and hair from their previously chaotic state.

"It's no big deal; I just need to take a different approach, I guess." He muttered.

It was obvious now that the younger one, Diva, had been weakened somehow. Perhaps they had used some manner of new-age medicine on her. Either way, it meant that she was no longer much of a threat to the humans, and with that being the case, it would be extremely difficult to get her dear sister to kill her. Honestly, it wasn't necessary, but he'd wanted it to be sororicide.

"Still, that doesn't mean that I can't have some more fun…"

Taking a deep breath, Alessandro roared out a howl that went for miles. And chiropterans could hear the cry from well beyond that as well. Surely the sisters could hear it too. Unfortunately for them, when the bats came knocking on their door, neither would be in control of said beasties. After all, the kings were originally the warriors and generals of a queen's army. So it only made sense that their control over lesser chiropterans be greater than that of a queen. Unfortunately that didn't apply to chevaliers, but in time Saya's would discover just how insignificant he was.

Alessandro waited, already hearing the faintest of rumblings from a chiropteran's hooves. Considering their potential speed, within an hour he would have enough to lay siege to the humans' complex. And using the species-wide telepathy that he possessed, he could storm their little lair again without so much as getting his shoes dirty.

"We'll see just how good of a slayer you really are _Saya_. When the time comes you'll all discover just how inconsequential and powerless you really are."

* * *

Saya sat in a chair reading a book as Diva lay on the bed in their room. Her sister was lying belly-first with her head propped up on her arms and her legs moving back and forth in the air. Normally such a situation would bore Diva to tears, but as she had been asking Saya about their future ever since they got back to their room, she seemed to be preoccupied for now. To be honest Saya hadn't gotten the chance to read more than a chapter or two because of all of Diva's questions.

"So Saya, once we live together will we stay in the same room or have our own?" She inquired.

Her elder sister put a finger between the current pages of her book as she answered "I'm not sure. I don't know when this new war will be over. We have absolutely no idea of how to kill Alessandro."

Diva yawned and rolled over to lie on her back.

"We could cut his head off. That might work." She replied flatly.

Saya thought on the idea for a moment; it _was _physically possible, but actually accomplishing that was another matter entirely. The last time they'd fought him the man had simply left. If he hadn't they would probably both be dead right now. Perhaps if Haji were helping them things would be different, but she wasn't going to risk their lives on a "perhaps".

Alessandro was just one enemy. That meant they couldn't take any action against anyone or anything else to hurt his strength, but it _also _meant that he was the only factor to worry about. As time went on, and they managed to evade him, they could develop a plan of attack. Because he had no connections with human society he wouldn't have any way of finding them if they didn't want to be found. This was assuming, of course, that he didn't have some manner of sixth sense that would allow him to find them. Though even if that _were _the case, they could use it as an opportunity to ambush the man.

One thing was for sure, regardless of how they intended to deal with the "chiropteran king"; he was more powerful than any enemy she had ever faced, likely even combined. Just the sheer power that he possessed was demoralizing and the explanation he'd given that kings were originally intended to protect their queens made a lot of sense in retrospect.

"Either way, we can't just go running into battle with him; we need to come up with a plan. As a matter of fact, I should probably be heading upstairs to continue the meeting; I've been holding it up too long as it is." Saya told her younger twin.

For the first time in a while, Diva pouted.

"Does that mean you're leaving me?" She asked with a pleading face.

"Not for long, Diva. But it _is _something that I have to do. We can't just sweep this thing under the rug. If we don't come up with a plan we could _all _die."

Diva's pout did not recede, and her gaze did not falter. So Saya decided to try a different tactic.

"Actually, maybe you _should _come with us."

Her little sister beamed at that.

"After all, there's going to be lots of talking. We'll probably have to go over various military strategies, explanations of historic battles, as well as the constructive characteristics of the complex…"

Diva's gaze was hollow.

"Maybe you should just go." She said.

Saya couldn't help but smile at that and told Diva she would be back soon before leaving the room. She left Haji with her sister to make sure everything was fine, and then headed down the hall for the elevator. The strategy meeting had been an open invitation, and once she'd made it up to Joel's office everyone could just be called up from their rooms to discuss the situation.

The tired girl sighed; sometimes she wished her life could be as simple as Diva's was.

* * *

Kai lay on the bed, barely moving, as he waited for the doctor to check him out of the medical ward. Everything was stitched up, so there wasn't any worry of his wounds opening up again so long as he took care. He also had been given pain medication for him to take once the current supply wore off. Fortunately he wouldn't need to ride around in a wheelchair, but any strenuous action and he'd back here before he knew it.

"Whatever, I just want to get out of here; I feel totally useless just lying in bed all day long."

As if on cue the doctor entered his room and told him that he was all set.

"When your prescription runs out, just come back here and see me, and I'll set you up with another one."

"Thanks, doc." He said while pulling his covers away and sitting up. The doctor withdrew the IV needle from his arm and Kai got off the bed, taking the first bottle of pain pills from said doctor. He left and, all due respect to the staff, hoped he wouldn't be back anytime soon. Almost as soon as he stepped out of the bleached white rooms and hallways of the medical wing and _into _the grey rooms and hallways of the main corridors, he heard an announcement on the loudspeakers: _"Will David, Kai, and Luis please come up to my office? We are about to begin."_

"Huh, I guess Saya finally got around to heading up there. Well, guess I'd better hurry."

Kai took a big step forward, and felt his chest ache.

"Er… maybe I'll just walk at a brisk pace."

* * *

"Thank you all for coming." Joel told them as everyone sat at the table. His voice was the same calming, thoughtful tone as always. But his eyes…

"As you are all aware, there was a breach earlier on today. Our enemy somehow found our location, snuck into the complex, and then assaulted multiple agents, as well as Kai, before disappearing without a trace."

The young man itched the side of his face, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"It would seem that the intruder, a man named Alessandro Noirroi, wanted us to believe that it was _Diva _who attacked everyone. Why, we cannot be sure of. However, it is immediately evident that this newly-revealed chiropteran has capabilities surpassing that of the chevaliers."

Saya's hands tightened on the sheath of the katana she brought with her everywhere.

"Beg your pardon, sir, but that's not entirely true."

Joel actually seemed a bit surprised at her statement.

"Alessandro's powers… they're more powerful than a _queen's_."

A chill fell over the group at her admittance. David, Luis, and Kai knew that to an extent. But though they'd seen that Saya was unable to kill Alessandro previously, they hadn't made any assumptions. After all, all the other chevaliers got away a few times before Saya ultimately destroyed them. But what they were worried about was the statement she was alluding to.

"Saya, are you saying that this new enemy is more powerful than _Diva _is at full strength?" Joel asked her straight on.

It took her a moment, but she nodded and then looked up at everyone else.

"When Diva and I were about to… finish the battle," She spoke, making sure to leave out the details as to how they were going to end it for everyone's sake. "Alessandro intruded and began fighting both of us individually. When we realized neither of us could defeat him, we worked together… and we still couldn't so much as hurt him. The absence of blood doesn't poison him. In addition to that, his blood causes great pain to us. I don't believe either of our blood could kill him, as well."

A few of them actually gasped at her statement.

"You mean that he's invulnerable to the power of your blood?" Luis asked, the doughnut in his hand long since forgotten.

"Not necessarily; he said he was from the previous generation of chiropterans. It's possible our blood would have _some _effect on him. But I don't believe it would be potent enough to outright kill him. In addition to that, his physical characteristics, as I said before, make it highly unlikely that we might kill him in a more typical way."

Joel interlaced his fingers and closed his eyes for a few moments. It was a sign that he was in deep thought. Eventually he opened his eyes again and gazed down at the table.

"Alright. So we know that this man is a… significant threat in personal combat. Do you know if he has any way of producing more chiropterans? Such as creating chevalier or the other, lesser forms of them?

Saya had to think on that one. She'd considered it before, wondering if the next time he came knocking on their doors he'd have an army behind him.

"I don't believe so. The way he was speaking at the opera house, it sounded like he wasn't 'designed' that way. First of all, the chiropterans that we usually fight are artificially created, so I don't think he could make them. And I don't believe he would create chevalier even if he _could_."

"Why is that, Saya?" David asked.

"He seems to possess a deep-seated hatred for them. According to him, my mother was the first queen to mate with a chevalier instead of a king. Because of this, kings ceased to exist in the species and our generation supposedly became weaker as a result. Ultimately, I believe he is just a single powerful chiropteran; I do not believe he can produce more."

"Shouldn't that make things a bit _easier_?" Kai asked.

"I mean, we won't have to go through all those mysteries and companies. No red tape with companies and politicians either. And since he's nearby it's not like we even have to go anywhere far away to find him. In terms of a "war" at least, things shouldn't be too hard."

"True, but sometimes a crafty general can overcome a much larger force. It's happened all throughout history, and in nature as well in regards to animals." David contributed.

"But let's not forget the big picture, David. All we have to do is evade him and keep track of his whereabouts. It might be hard keeping him under surveillance as he has no integration into society aside from his appearance. But there are certain contacts that we can tap to find him when necessary. And then, once we're ready, we can strike. Then, we will achieve victory, and ultimately we might achieve some measure of peace."

Joel's statement helped raise their hopes a bit, and his expression returned completely to normal.

"Everyone, we are almost there. All we need to do now is take one more step and we can end-"

_"Warning! Chiropterans have breached the main entrance and are commencing an attack of the facility. All personnel report to the main entrance and hold them off until Saya arrives."_

"What? Chiropterans?" Kai spoke.

"How did they find the facility?" David asked.

"Could they have tracked Saya's scent from the opera house?" Luis questioned.

"Regardless, we must destroy the chiropterans before they completely overrun the facility."

He looked at Saya.

"Saya, I'm sorry, but we must ask you for help once more. Will you fight with us?"

Holding tight to her sword and sheath, the dark-haired girl rose.

"I will always fight chiropterans so long as they threaten humanity."

Her eyes turned red.

"To protect our tomorrow." Saya thought.


	23. Besieged

The Red Shield operatives formed up in a line from wall to wall, aiming their weapons at the chiropterans that stood feeding on the bodies of those they had slain. One of the operatives shouted "fire" and then they unleashed a salvo of bullets into their enemies.

This was one of Red Shield's fortifications, and it was well-supplied. As such, the operatives were equipped with the previously experimental explosive munitions. This resulted in a devastating series of explosions ripping the chiropterans apart. The sheer number of pieces they had been torn into made it possible that this was the very first victory that mere humans had had over the frightening creatures. However, soon more chiropterans rushed in to take the place of their brethren, and they did not bother with the drinking of blood.

Once more a volley of gunfire was unloaded upon the monsters, and once more their attackers were rent to harmless, albeit living shreds. But with each new wave the ammo in their weapons dwindled. And though more soldiers continued to arrive, eventually they would all have to reload. A few minutes later, that time came, and even though a few agents were still firing, the beastly chiropterans leapt into melee combat with the humans. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in their reach were not engaging in a fight, but were rather the victims of a massacre. The survivors fell back and continued firing at the chiropterans.

The entrance was Y-shaped, with the bottom being the entrance and the split portions the first hallways into the facility. As such, the humans fell back in two directions. While this might normally help split up an invading attack force, in the case of chiropterans it made it easier for them to spread throughout the facility. The defenders knew this, as they continued fighting while in retreat. After all, once this first defense was gone, the rest would be chaos. They needed to bide time for Saya to arrive. They needed to keep the chiropterans from delving further into the facility.

More squads of agents came onto the scene and slowly they began to slow their retreat. Ultimately the humans managed to form a haphazard wall of fire that held the chiropterans off for several minutes. The battle lines continued to fluctuate, with the chiropterans taking ground and the humans losing ground, and vice versa. When heavy weapons were brought up from storage, however, the Red Shield members began to push the chiropterans back outside. It took some time, but they eventually made it back to the entrance and now the chiropterans were once more forced to stream in through the bottleneck of the main doors.

"Keep it up! We just need to hold them off a little more! She's almost here!" One of the agents shouted. Dozens of cheers called out in response, and even the fearsome chiropterans began to show signs of fear. This only further bolstered the humans' fighting spirit and they fought even harder. Finally the tide of chiropterans slowed and ultimately came to a stop. Once more the operatives cheered at their victory over the chiropterans without even needing to use Saya's blood. Their victory cries fell in onto confused gasps, though, as another person entered the entrance. He wore a white shirt and a black coat, with matching pants, shoes, and a flowing mane of hair. All of the operatives wondered what the hell was going on and several of them even gave audible signs of such. The man walked a few steps into the hallway and surveyed the operatives with an amused expression. Then he noticed something interesting on the floor and bent down to examine it.

"Tell me, you used the natural means of killing a chiropteran in the form of one queen's blood used against another…"

He rose up, now holding something in both hands.

"Did you really think that we couldn't use the same tactic?" He asked them, now brandishing a machinegun from one of the felled operatives. Everyone hesitated for a moment as his smile deepened into a smirk.

"Watch out! Chiropteran with a machinegun!" He shouted before unloading on the humans. They fired back, but he was all over the place; he was on the ceiling, the walls, lying on the ground, in the air… they couldn't get a bead on him as he mowed down soldier after soldier. Then, once their numbers had been reduced, he landed in-between the two hallways and tossed the machinegun aside as chiropterans leapt out behind him, forming simultaneous meat shields and battering rams as they crushed their way through the Red Shield's ranks. Within minutes the humans were on the ropes once more, but this time their enemies were far more than a horde of monsters; now they were being coordinated by their very own general.

"That's right! Run you putrid little worms!" He shouted out maniacally as their fleeing forms were torn to shreds.

"The last hope for humanity against the chiropterans…" He remarked before spitting on the floor and laughing.

* * *

Saya hurried down the hallways towards the entrance of the building. She'd had to go alone because David and Luis had their own path to take that would help the agents on the other side. They had to leave Kai upstairs with Joel since he wasn't in the shape to fight and it was the most heavily secured part of the facility. All she could do for them right now was hope that they would be alright. Diva was still weakened by the effects of the drug, but Haji would be there to protect her until Saya returned.

The question was "How many chiropterans had infiltrated the facility"? She couldn't imagine a large number of them just happening by the secret secluded base of the Red Shield. Then again, maybe this wasn't any random attack.

The girl quickened her pace and rounded a corner, before falling backwards to escape a chiropteran's swiping claw. Throwing the sheath away, Saya slid her hand along the blade before cutting through the monster's stomach as she rose from the floor.

As her attacker fell to the ground, dying, she took in the scene in front of her. The Red Shield operatives were in full retreat, their shots going wild behind them and blowing chunks of the wall out as much as chunks of chiropteran flesh. Many of them were being run down by the large creatures as they ran, and it was a grisly sight when they were caught.

Not wasting time, Saya leapt into the fray. She beheaded a monster while in the air before landing behind another that had grabbed hold of an agent and stabbing her sword behind her into the creature. Drawing it out, she cut into yet another chiropteran before evading an additional one's attack with a spin and cutting through its leg and mixing her blood with its own.

With her appearance the Red Shield operatives regained a semblance of their fighting spirit and more of their shots found their marks.

"Get out of here! Don't worry; I can take care of them!" Saya asked of them while rushing towards the oncoming chiropterans to stall the creatures. It gave them valuable time to make their way back down the hall. And though she was soon left with over a dozen chiropterans bent on her demise, she was glad they'd gotten away.

Saya leapt forward with another horizontal slash, catching three chiropterans in one swipe. From behind them another grabbed for her, only to catch air as she hopped over it, landed, and stabbed another behind it. She kicked its companion before spinning and attacking the one that had missed her before. The girl finished with one more spin with a downward slash through the chiropteran she had just kicked. Then, with a snap of her wrist, all six of them fell.

Her enemies roared at her as their brethren fell, and she opened her eyes once more, glaring at them with red eyes. She drew her sword up again, once more spilt blood on it, and then leapt into the fray as she always had and always would.

* * *

In contrast with the sounds reverberating throughout the rest of the facility, all that could be heard in Joel's office was a tapping sound, and the vague whir of an air purifier. The purifier was simply cycling the air throughout the room to keep it fresh and breathable, while the tapping came from Kai's fingers on the table. They pattered on it over and over again until eventually Joel spoke up.

"Kai, they have all been in battle many times, as you well know. Though this situation may seem hopeless, we must always remember that it is our commitment to our cause that will carry us through. Each and every one of us will fight, to the end if necessary, to protect our tomorrow."

The young man's fingers tightened into a fist.

"I know that. But just sitting here makes me feel useless. I should be out there helping them."

Joel took in his words and Kai realized how dense he'd been.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to say anything… I just, how did you ever bare not going into battle yourself?"

Joel readjusted himself and placed his hands on the table, smiling like he always did.

"To be honest, I've never truly hated the chiropterans. More so, I regret what the first Joel did by putting them in a position where they became the enemies of humanity. We can see the potential to coexist with chiropterans every time we see Saya and Haji. Sometimes when I'm alone I can't help but wonder… if my ancestor hadn't locked Diva up in that tower like he did, would she have turned out much different than Saya? I've never been able to answer that question."

Kai sat in silence, absorbing the man's words.

"Regardless, it is a fact that Diva, or at the very least her chevaliers were developing plans to wipe humanity from the face of the earth, and none of us would ever allow that. I've never been a violent person, and I don't have the battle sense necessary for war. What I _do _have are resources and connections, clout and political savvy. So I've been doing all that _I_ can to bring an end to this war."

"I guess you're just a stronger person than I am, Joel. And I've never really been very good at subversive stuff. I'm kind of just the guy you throw into the thick of it and he usually manages to wiggle out."

The two of them breathed a laugh together as Joel pushed a button beneath the table and part of the wall slid up into the ceiling. Behind it were monitors which gave them view of various hallways and rooms. Though some of them were out, the "bird's eye view" and the microphone to the loudspeakers would help him aide their friends and the other members of the Red Shield.

"You see, we can still help them after all." Joel told him.

Kai gave a little smile and then looked for Saya.

* * *

The sound of cracking ice was all about her as her enemies lay dying or already dead. With the victory she ran further down the hallway, desperate to reach the main entrance so that she might be able to push the chiropterans from the facility. It would be a difficult battle, but once the stray enemies were picked out from the hallways the Red Shield agents would be able to aide her.

Her only problem was that she didn't know where to go. Though her current path was linear, she remembered that there were various splits throughout the complex. She couldn't afford to go the wrong way and risk letting more chiropterans past her. Surely enough, as the hallway curved, she could see a fork up ahead. Worse still, neither had signs telling her which hallway went where. She couldn't waste time deciding, and took the right hallway in stride. However, as she did Saya heard Kai's voice coming from the loudspeakers, _"Not that way! The other hallway! That'll lead you to the entrance"! _He said.

Saya did as her brother told her and turned around before running back to the fork and taking the other path. The hallway was long, but it didn't seem to split again anytime soon. It was a good thing Kai had told her; otherwise she might have been running around all day looking for the entrance.

_"When you reach the end of the hall you'll turn left. That'll take you towards an elevator that lets out into hallway 2-A; that's one of the two near the main entrance."_

Saya nodded; as she was unaware if he would be able to hear her if she spoke. Quickening her pace, Saya crossed through the hall quickly. No enemies lurked in the area as far as she could tell, and Kai hadn't alerted her of any upcoming hostiles. She rounded the corner Kai had mentioned and then it was just a dozen yards or so to the elevator. Colliding with the wall, Saya slammed into the "up" button. The elevator "beeped" as it slowly moved up the levels and Saya stepped in front of the door, catching her breath. The elevator finally reached her floor, signaling as such with a final bright chime.

_"Saya! Move!" _Kai's voice shouted.

The girl complied and managed to avoid being crushed as a chiropteran tore through the metal doors of the elevator and leapt out. Rolling back in front of it, Saya glanced into the cabin and saw the crushed corpse of a Red Shield operative, still holding his empty handgun. Her eyes glowing red once more, she turned to glare at the monstrous creature. The few hairs that remained on its head were oiled down with the blood of fallen operatives, and its teeth glistened with their blood.

The chiropteran faced off with her, drooling transparent pinkish drool onto the floor. Saya moved her hand towards her sword and the monster attacked. She thrust through the air, her hand, and into the monster. But though the attack would soon prove fatal for the monster, its momentum did not cease, and it tackled her into the elevator where it shook due to the strain put on its cables. It rattled once more before the cables snapped and the elevator plummeted towards the lowest level of the shaft. Saya fought the creature off of her, severing one of its hands, and glanced at the floor indicator as it flashed by. The girl took a guess and, with her inhuman reflexes, jumped out of the elevator just as they passed the floor.

Behind her the elevator and chiropteran descended to the bottom floor and crashed in a wreck that would imprison it until her blood had done its job. She had been fortunate enough to escape without any injuries, as they would heal more slowly since she was near the end of her "active phase".

"I need to kill these chiropterans and destroy Alessandro before I run out of time." She thought before hurrying forward. The sounds of chaos and death were all about her, and Saya knew this was the main battlefield. To her right several chiropterans were chasing after fleeing members of the Red Shield, whereas to the left she could see the monsters rushing down the hall. Deciding that the other monsters could wait, Saya ran as fast as she could to catch up with the chiropterans who were chasing the humans and downed one of them with a lunging slash. Its fellows immediately took notice of her and ignored the agents as they managed to get away.

"Good, I'm glad they won't be in danger any longer." Saya told herself before covering her sword in fresh blood and once more taking the fight to the chiropterans.

* * *

Kai watched the screens, and saw that with Saya stemming the flow of the incoming chiropteran horde, the agents were beginning to regroup. They were far from organized squads, but they stopped retreating and began to fight back. Within a few minutes the straggling chiropterans were being picked off by the agents even as Saya continued to fight her way towards the main entrance of the complex. In addition to that, David and Luis were rallying the fleeing troops in the other hall. It seemed this might be the final push to kick the chiropterans out of the facility. From there Saya could probably go out hunting them on a regular basis. If they were lucky most of the chiropterans could be eliminated from here, and afterwards, with there no longer being chiropterans produced, they could wipe out all of the violent ones.

There was just one thing that bothered him, and that was regarding how the chiropterans had managed to get past the Red Shield operatives in the first place. They wouldn't be able to kill the chiropterans, he knew that. But considering the amount of explosive rounds they'd had to work with, he couldn't have imagined that they would be overpowered so quickly. This was doubly so after he'd heard that the "heavy weapons" were being sent to the entrance.

Something flashed by one of the monitors and Kai squinted his eyes to better see another one that he imagined the flash would pass by. He did in fact spot something, but what it was, he couldn't say. It was just a black whir, that was all. For a moment he wondered if it was simply an error with the monitor, but then he saw the door to the power room closing on another monitor and knew it had been far more than some electronic error. As the door closed he saw a long black coat trailing behind, and he knew who it was.

Kai accessed all the speakers throughout the facility, and then pressed the "call" button on the microphone. But as he began to warn everyone the room went black. A few moments passed and the backup generators kicked on, but they only provided the necessities such as clean air and lighting. One way or the other, they wouldn't be able to stay here forever. And even though the backup generators were obviously in a different place, he imagined Alessandro, the man with the black coat, would eventually find _them _as _well_. And if he disabled _those _generators, and they were plunged into pitch black darkness, the nocturnal chiropterans would have a distinct advantage. Hell, who was he kidding? With communications and the cameras down, they already did.

The young man thought for a few moments about his options and the consequences of them, and then he bolted for the door, ignoring the pain in his side.

"Kai, where are you going?" Joel called after him.

"I need to find Saya and tell her about Alessandro."

"You saw him?" Joel questioned, honestly sounding shocked.

"Yeah… and she needs to know that he's here."

"But why?"

"So that she can end this war, once and for all."

With that Kai left the safety of Joel's office and headed down for the main entrance, a hole in his chest, and a pistol in his hand.


	24. Complications

Saya was in the middle of fighting two chiropterans when the lights suddenly went off, and if it weren't for their glowing red eyes she wouldn't have seen them move. She fell back to roll out of the way of their attacks before coming up against a wall just as emergency lights kicked in. They weren't quite as bright as usual, but at least she could see her enemy again. However, the fact that the main generators had been turned off in the first place told her that either there was an incidental explosion in the power room, or a chiropteran had intentionally destroyed them. She was hoping it was the first possibility, because if not…

She dodged another attack and realized there wasn't any time to think right now. As she realigned herself Saya glanced back towards the entrance and saw that the flow of chiropterans into the complex had increased since she arrived. They must have been able to smell her scent. Whatever the case, she knew what she had to do.

Sliding her hand along her sword once more, the girl charged into the horde of chiropterans, slashing and hacking everywhere, dodging attacks, counterattacking, leaping over one enemy to strike another, rolling… were battle not a situation in which all sense of time was lost, she likely would have known she was fighting for quite a while. It was getting tiring however, especially considering that she hadn't gotten a recent transfusion of blood to restore her strength after the fights with Diva and Alessandro. She continued to slay chiropterans, but at the same time Saya was also aware that she couldn't keep this up forever.

"If I can just manage to push them out of the building and close the doors… we can come up with some kind of strategy, a plan." She thought.

Saya slew another chiropteran and dodged the attack from yet another. However, the second attack was harder to dodge, and the third one near-impossible. She had to leap out of the mass of chiropterans just to avoid being overwhelmed. Yet, as she landed another enemy swiped at her. She drew her head back, and the monster's claws just barely grazed her cheek as she cut through its arm. As such, she was barely harmed. But the slight damage made the chiropteran-slayer realize just how dangerous of a situation she was in. Saya had never fought this many chiropterans before at once, at least not while conscious of it.

"But I can't just run away either!" She shouted in her head, bringing her sword up into a guarding position.

Seeming to notice their advantage, the chiropterans pressed forward, seeking to overcome her. As she prepared to charge into battle once more a volley of gunfire shot out from behind her, blasting apart the closest chiropterans. A hundred more shots rang out and several other monsters fell to the ground in just as many pieces. Glancing behind her, Saya saw that many of the Red Shield operatives whom she had saved had come back to aide her. It bolstered her fighting spirit and when the operatives ran out of ammo she thanked them and charged in once more.

The fight wasn't over; not by a long shot. But with her allies fighting alongside her Saya knew she could repel the chiropteran threat. They would chase these monsters out of their dwelling, and then she would take the things out of their _lives _for _good_.

"And then I'll kill Alessandro, and this will all be over." She told herself.

* * *

David and Luis pressed forward, mowing down a rank of chiropterans with their combined firepower and rallying the other soldiers. It was up to them to drive back the threat on this side of the hall; Saya would be putting her life at stake just as much as they were on the other side. That being said, they needed to be careful; their bodies weren't as physically durable as Saya's inhuman one.

Both of them gathered a total of five agents to act as their squads and the rest were held in reserve. Coordination and timing was essential; the second one group ran out of ammo another opened fire on the creatures. It was a tedious battle, but they were slowly gaining ground. The only thing they had to worry about now was ammo, and there was always a reserve supply to be found behind the lines of their comrades.

An injured chiropteran leapt forth and swung its claws at David, but another agent had unknowingly wandered into the path of its attack. His death and the time it took for the monster's arm to pass through his body gave David an extra half second to duck as another operative shot the monster in its forehead. He thanked the first man for his sacrifice and the other for his assistance as David's machinegun spat angrily back at the chiropterans.

Silent rage passed through the disciplined soldier, and he ordered a charge from the others. David led his squad and Luis his own as they stormed the horde of chiropterans, the hallway alit with gunfire as if it were an electrical wire. The counterattack was blistering and soon the Red Shield operatives could see the other side of the hallway, as well as Saya pushing back her own host of enemies with the aide of some of her allies. Their reunion of fire drove the comrades even further into a combat frenzy and, with a flourish; they began to push the monstrous creatures out towards the entrance…

* * *

"Do you think that Saya is all right, Haji?" Diva asked him. The tone of worry a speaker would usually have when they cared about someone was absent in her voice, but then again, she'd never really observed such behavior.

"Yes. I can feel her." He responded.

Diva might not have been the most sociable person in the world, but she was a good people-reader nonetheless. And she could tell when Haji was worried, even through his visage of stone.

"I can too." She responded, sounding relieved.

It was strange that despite her decreased physical capabilities she still possessed the ability to sense other chiropterans, albeit on a lower level than usual.

At first when Saya didn't come back for a while, she had been upset. However, when she heard that other chiropterans had invaded the facility she became worried, in her own way, for Saya's safety. It was ironic that all this time Saya had been fighting chiropterans on a path to kill her sister. And now that she'd heard that an overwhelming number of chiropterans had entered the facility, likely too many for Saya to handle, Diva was in fact worried about Saya's well-being. If only her powers were stronger at the moment she might be able to use her own natural influence over the creatures to make it easier for Saya to kill them.

Being unable to help Saya was frustrating, and Diva pouted as she thought of what she might be able to do.

"Maybe if I kill someone and use their blood to distract… no, Saya would be mad with me."

Her sister could be so difficult sometimes.

Diva sighed and lay back down on the bed. A light breeze of warm air blew down on her from the vent in the air duct. It was much nicer to have some heat coming into the room, as opposed to back in the cell where it was so cold she could see her breath. The air carried with it the scent of some indistinguishable flower and almost served to act as an air freshener. As Diva's full range of senses kicked in, however, she sensed something else in the air. Sitting up, her smile went to a flat line; it was her version of a concerned frown.

"Haji, come with me. Saya is in trouble."

* * *

The chiropterans were in the doorway. With their latest charge the agents had mowed down a rank of them and Saya leapt into the breach. She stood in front of the entrance, creating a wall of sword strikes that killed any chiropteran that dare try to pass her. At the same time David, Luis, and the other agents reloaded their weapons and took up more solid positions in the two hallways. Once more heavy weapons were brought up to aide in suppression, and the operatives "layered" themselves between lying, crouching, and standing to maximize the number of people who could attack at once.

With a shout David told Saya to take cover and after she'd done so a torrent of explosive munitions burst into the mass of enemies, now creating a wall not of slashes, but of lead and fire. As the first volley ended, the side on which David was located held back so that Saya could run past them and out of the line of fire. She glanced behind her and saw that, despite the casualties, they had taken back control of the facility.

She didn't know just how much a chiropteran had to be damaged before it couldn't heal itself anymore, but hopefully they would have enough time to burn their remains before they would find out. There was always the possibility that there was a chiropteran here or there in the facility, but once they got the main power generators back online they could probably use the monitors to find them.

"It's a shame that so many members of Red Shield had to lose their lives because of some freak occurrence, but I'm sure they would be glad we were able to wipe out most of the remaining chiropterans left in the world in a single night." Saya thought to herself now that she was behind a line of soldiers and actually had time to think.

"You did well, Saya. As always, we couldn't have done it without you." David congratulated her.

Smiling slightly she said that she'd done her best. Then with a frown and a sad expression she told him she'd wished they had been able to push the chiropterans out of the facility sooner so that fewer people had to die.

"All members of the Red Shield are prepared to die for the sake of our cause, Saya. It's indeed unfortunate that they had to do so, but don't feel like it was your fault."

She nodded as something appeared in the corner of their vision from down the hall. Each whipped in the direction of the moving object, both drawing their weapons. But they sheathed them both as they realized who it was.

Kai slowed his pace as he caught sight of them and they could tell that he really shouldn't have been running at all. Nevertheless, that he would do so when he knew how dangerous it was proved that Kai had a good reason for coming to find them.

"Saya! He's here!" He shouted, expelling the last of his available breath as he came to a halt.

Both of them were shocked when they heard his statement and Saya pressed it.

"Alessandro? He's in the building?"

Kai couldn't answer audibly since he was still taking big breaths of air. So he nodded and pointed to one of the cameras in the hallway. They gathered what he meant and stepped away from the line of soldiers so that the shots wouldn't disrupt their conversation as much.

"Where did you see him? Was he the one that cut the main power?" David inquired.

Once more Kai nodded, and with a final breath he seemed capable of speech again.

"I saw a black flash on one of the screens, so I looked at another monitor and I saw the door to the power room already closing. As it did I could see his coat. It doesn't look like any other one I've seen since we came here. I'm sure it was him."

Saya tried to calm herself and access her chiropteran senses. It was difficult as she rarely consciously used them; mostly it was a kind of subliminal radar to tell her when chiropterans were nearby. Unfortunately, as close as she was to the horde of artificial ones, she couldn't pick his scent out. It made it even more difficult that he had already been in the facility beforehand and thus the slightest presence of his scent wasn't proof that he'd come back. Regardless, she trusted Kai and his instincts, and this was just too big a threat to brush aside. There were only two problems. The first being that they would have a hard time finding him in such a large complex, and the second being that even if they _did _find him they couldn't do much. Unless…

"Kai, David, I need to go see Joel."

* * *

Haji and Diva were en route to Joel's office to ask him where Saya had gone. Diva didn't particularly like the idea of going to see one of Joel's descendants, but it was necessary to find Saya in time. Unfortunately, neither of them exactly knew where they were going. This place was far too complex to traverse for the simple knowledge that he was above them to help very much.

Joel probably wouldn't have any way of knowing exactly where Saya had gone, but since it was to his office that Saya first traveled hopefully he would have a general idea as to where she was now.

"How much further?" Diva questioned him.

Despite the fact she was being carried by him to reduce the hindrance of her human pace on his chiropteran speed, they were still taking far too long to get there for her taste. Haji was likely anxious to find Joel quickly as well.

"I'm not sure. I believe there was an elevator up ahead; we should be able to take it up to Joel's office." He responded.

As luck would have it, the elevator was currently traveling up towards their floor. Maybe it was Saya! Haji stopped a few yards from the elevator to let Diva down and they both walked the rest of the way. As the elevator arrived and the bell dinged, the doors began to open. Her hopes were stifled at the sight of black clothing.

"David. Oh well…" She thought.

However, when the doors opened completely, and the black clothing was revealed to be pants and a coat with a coordinating white shirt and long black hair, things became far worse. The dramatic man waiting within opened his eyes, revealing those damnable black irises as he smirked at them.

"Well, now; here you are."


	25. Breaking Shield

"I _thought_ I smelled something up here." He said.

Haji drew himself between Diva and Alessandro as the man stepped out of the elevator. Though the chevalier was likely aware he wouldn't be able to do much, the chiropteran king still scoffed at him.

"Please, you're a coke can on the street. Roll out of the way or you'll get stomped on."

The elevator doors closed behind him and he glanced at them as the light began to descend towards the main entrance. Chances were Saya had called it.

"I see. So the hybrids weren't good enough. That's what you get when you turn a human into a chiropteran with inferior blood, _diluted _no less." He mused out loud.

If they could just hold him off until Saya arrived perhaps they could escape… trap him in the complex maybe. Diva wasn't exactly partial to trapping anyone somewhere forever due to her own past but she'd get over it. That was assuming, however, that they would survive more than a minute.

"I gather your boy-toy has cleared everything up about earlier." Alessandro spoke, still not moving.

"Saya found out herself. She's nice to me now."

"I _see_… then it will just be all the more amusing to see her expression as I pull you apart."

Diva gave a short mocking laugh and noticed a fire extinguisher nearby.

"Been there. Done that." She spoke before leaping to the wall and pulling the fire extinguisher free. Despite her current physical power there was enough adrenaline running through the girl that she could hurl the cylinder over at Alessandro. He stepped out of the way and the thing banged into the elevator doors.

"Try again." He teased, but Diva's expression didn't change.

"No, I think I did just fine that time."

His eyes narrowed for a moment as the broken fire extinguisher sprayed him and the area about him with its contents. It made it impossible for them to see him, but the reverse was also likely true. She and Haji neared each other and a form jutted from the white haze. It grabbed hold of someone's throat as it reached them, covered in a white substance itself.

"Did you really think that would…"

Alessandro scowled as he saw that he had grabbed Haji's throat, not Diva's. The chevalier held his arm still as Diva made her escape. The king shoved Haji away after a second or two of struggling and once more speared towards her. However she leaped and he flew past, carried away by his own momentum. Haji got to her, though, and in an instant they were by the elevator, the doors already beginning to open…

"Well now, isn't that an interesting strategy." He mused, though he sounded decidedly angrier now than he had beforehand.

"And you think I'm going to just _let _you get away, do you?" He growled before he turned around and the black blur that was his moving body darted through the white haze. They hadn't suspected that he would have been able to get to them before they had gotten into the elevator. Fortunately it was still difficult enough to see that Haji had been able to push Diva aside and take the attack that was meant for her.

Diva fell straight back into Saya's arms as her sister looked first at her and then at the two men outside the elevator. Sticking out of Haji's back was a stained-white hand covered in blood; it looked like crimson snow. Even still the stout chevalier gripped the king's arm both in front and behind him to hold him still.

"Go! I'll hold him off!"

"Haji!"

"Saya! You must escape!"

Saya, Kai, and their friends were frozen, but Diva fortunately was still able to move. She lurched forward, still in Saya's arms, and kicked the button that would take them up to Joel's floor. Saya screamed Haji's name once more before the elevator doors closed and they began to ascend. Holding back tears, the elder twin managed to ask Diva if she was alright. Telling her yes, Diva stood up and steadied herself, watching the elevator go up floor by floor.

Below the walls were shaking, likely due to the "battle" down below. Everyone could just hope that Haji would pull through as he always did as they continued making their way up to the office of the leader of the Red Shield.

* * *

"You really think this will accomplish anything? Letting them get up a few stories in a building?" Alessandro asked as Haji fought to hold his arm still.

"It's my duty to protect Saya however I might be able to, no matter how little a help I might be. If it aides her I will do whatever it takes."

"Hmph. Such strong words for such a tiny bug." The man said before turning around and whipping his arm at a wall. The force he put behind the swing sent Haji flying into the concrete wall with a shattering thud. His body formed a crater in the construct and small pieces fell to the ground as he did the same.

"Don't overestimate your significance; the only reason I haven't torn off your head and pulled the doors open to go after them is because I don't really need to. There isn't anywhere they can go that I can't find them; least of all in a big concrete box."

It took a tremendous amount of effort, but after healing his wounds Haji rose up from the ground and allowed his body to exhibit its chiropteran characteristics; two bat-like wings sprouted from his back and his other hand turned into a chiropteran-like visage as the first one always was.

"So scary… are you going to give me a high-five?"

"Your inability to take your enemies seriously will be your downfall."

Alessandro's demeanor changed back to that of a furiously deranged psychopath.

"What the hell did you just say? Did you just tell me of a 'weakness'?"

The man's teeth ground together so hard Haji could hear them cracking.

"Don't you _dare _assume so much _boy_!" He roared as his voice changed and the man's eyes glowed.

"This is all I can do at the moment… Saya, please run." Haji thought, charging across the hall.

* * *

The elevator dinged a final time as the doors opened and they could see Joel waiting for them in his office. How he had known they would be the first ones to make it up to him was something they could only imagine.

"Saya, what is going on? Have you been able to repel the chiropterans?"

They walked out of the elevator, into his office. The monitors Kai had used to help some of them out were affixed to one wall, all empty. Other than that, the siege didn't seem to have touched Joel in the least. It was as if his office was a manifestation of Joel's constant inner calm.

"We did, sir, but Alessandro managed to get into the facility during the commotion. Haji is downstairs… holding him off."

There was a silence for a few moments. Of course, it was Joel who eventually spoke up.

"I see… well, we mustn't let his actions be a waste; we have to respond."

It was David who spoke this time.

"But sir, all of our men are at the entrance. There isn't much we can do."

Joel seemed to go into thought.

"While neutralizing Diva's abilities might have seemed like a good idea previously, we, in essence, ended up shooting ourselves in the foot, so to speak."

The long-haired girl certainly wasn't going to object; they definitely would have had a lot more options if _both _of them were capable of fighting right now. Even she knew that.

"So what should we do?" Kai asked.

A few more seconds of deliberation and Joel looked up at David.

"We have no other choice; David, signal for the members of Red Shield to evacuate via the underground tunnels and then activate option D."

Option D; it was the codename for a complete-destruction protocol. It had taken out a secret lab disguised as a nature conservancy center, Red Shield's primary headquarters, and the Metropolitan Opera House. Now it would claim one of the last defenses they had. And hopefully Alessandro along with it.

"But what about all of the chiropterans?" Luis asked.

"Unfortunately we'll have to leave them alone for now. They are admittedly a lesser threat and we know for a fact that they don't have the ability to create other chiropterans. In the future we might be able to find a way to attract them to a specific source. If we can do that they will not be a substantial problem."

David went to another part of the office, presumably where the controls were to destruct the facility. Joel, meanwhile, moved towards a wall with a large picture frame on it. He pressed a button on his wheelchair and the top of the painting descended at an angle. It was then that everyone could see it was in fact a metal ramp that led into a passage. The passage most likely led out into the mountains. Though it was unlikely there wouldn't be a path due to Joel's condition and the escape route having been designed for him in the first place.

"This passage will take us to an underground river corridor that splits into three sections; one of them funnels in from the ocean, another leads into the city, and a third empties out into a nearby lake. I have transportation waiting at all three exits and they all have different destinations."

"So we'll all go one way and make him think we split up so he won't know where to go?"

Joel frowned. It seemed so unnatural for him.

"I'm afraid not. You see, if we're to defeat Alessandro we have to think strategically. That is why Luis and I will go the city route, David and Saya will go towards the ocean, and Kai and Diva will go to the lake."

Most everyone was surprised at Joel's decision. It wasn't like him to be so amorally objective.

"What do you mean? We can't just split up!" Kai shouted.

"Kai…" David began, "if we're all serious about destroying Alessandro then we must do whatever it takes to accomplish that mission."

"But what's the point in defeating him if no one else is left when he's finally dead?" Kai spoke once more.

"Kai… it's alright."

It surprised him when it was Saya that had spoken up. Everyone turned to face her as she gripped her sword and continued.

"I'll cut myself and put blood along the tunnel walls in the direction I'm headed. That way he'll come after me. If we move quickly enough we can get away before he even makes it into the passage and the rest of you will have plenty of time to escape."

Kai and Diva both began to object at the same time and canceled each other out.

"But Joel, I _do _think that we should meet up in the same place eventually. Whatever plans we can come up with I don't imagine we can accomplish any of them without Diva and I working together."

It took a few moments before Joel responded.

"You're right, Saya; if we are to truly win this war we will need to hold on to our humanity just as much as our lives. Each and every one of us must survive for us to achieve a true victory. After all… our mission is about preserving life, not bringing about death. Though we might part ways for now, I know that in the end we will all reunite, and we will finally be able to close the book on this tragic story in our world's history."


	26. Sacrifice

"_The self-destruct system has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. All personnel proceed to the nearest evacuation point. Repeat; the self-destruct system has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. All personnel proceed to the nearest evacuation point. Repeat…."_

* * *

Just as the final person reached the underground passage they could hear a voice telling them from invisible speakers that they had five minutes until detonation.

"So quickly?" Saya thought. The sequence David had initiated must have been focused more towards eliminating enemies than actually allowing people to escape. If Joel hadn't told them that their transports were already prepped she would have worried about being able to get away in time. Saya could only hope that the other members of the Red Shield would be able to get away as well.

The underground river passage was dark; though there was enough light to find your way there wasn't much more than that. The stone looked more like charcoal than concrete and the rushing river was a constant reminder to watch where they were going. Unfortunately there were no railings down here to prevent them from tumbling in. Nevertheless, there was plenty of space for them.

Up ahead she could see the tunnel split in three directions. Each new path had a sign above it to indicate where it led. She only hoped that her plan would work. On that note, Saya tightened her free hand into a fist, cutting her palm open with her nails, and she ran her hand along the wall. A second or two later she withdrew it and her hand healed. The blood trail would likely be suspicious, but she imagined that just the suspicion that she and Diva would be at the end should be enough for him to follow.

"_Four minutes until detonation."_

Saya bit her lip and they increased their pace until they had reached the fork, at which point they slowed down. Everyone distributed his or herself to the right tunnel and with a silent agreement they- flew into the walls as the middle of the ceiling collapsed into the small clearing. Saya sprang back from the wall as her bruises healed while the humans who were armed drew their guns from where they were. Dust and dirt and debris scattered about the area as they readied themselves. When they finally caught sight of the source of the damage everyone realized that it was a battered and bloodied Haji. Saya immediately ran to her chevalier's side and tried to help him up. He was just barely conscious and had several wounds all over his body that had yet to heal.

She knew who was coming and told everyone that they needed to go. Luis was the first to get Joel and retreat down their tunnel; however, as Saya began to pull Haji up he pushed her back into the wall and dove away as another form jutted down through the hole in the ceiling. They didn't need to look to know who it was as something flew at Kai's head. He disappeared in a blue flash as Haji took him a few yards down his own tunnel. Though it was likely just luck that he'd ended up in the right place as Haji wouldn't have known.

Meanwhile Diva leapt out of the way as a black blur moved from the clouded debris and thrust a hand into the wall behind where she had been standing. She came up near Saya with her arms scraped but that was the extent of the damage. Unfortunately they were now both at the entrance of one tunnel, and Alessandro was directly between them and the other one. They didn't have time to think, and Saya told Diva to run down the tunnel. They sped away as the chiropteran king pulled his hand and several chunks of stone free from the wall and followed after them.

Kai rose up and started to push forward but Haji held him back and stepped away.

"Kai, you have to escape. You are in no condition to fight and Saya needs you."

"But I can't just leave-"

"Kai!" Haji spoke forcefully, as close as he would get to a shout. It made him quiet, and helped him understand just how serious the chevalier was

"You are the one who gives Saya a tomorrow to fight for. Only you can give that to her."

"But what about you?"

Haji looked away and then closed his eyes before turning around and dashing first out of one tunnel and then down the other.

"Only you." He spoke again, this time to himself.

Saya and Diva were running as fast as they could. The tunnel seemed to be passing by too slowly, but they had to trust that they would reach the end before Alessandro reached them. From what they could tell, he didn't seem to be in his right mind at the moment. For whatever reason, he hadn't caught up with them even though his body was surely capable of moving far faster than even a queen's could.

"If we can just reach the transport," Saya thought "I can hold him off long enough for Diva to escape. If I'm lucky I will be able to escape with her. But if not…"

Saya held the sheath of her sword tight and pulled Diva along. They both knew her younger sister wasn't strong enough right now to do much of anything. It was ironic that the very medicine they had used to protect themselves was in fact handicapping them now.

Up ahead she could see the tunnel break. The only visible changes were shining spots of light; the stars in the sky shone through the passage as the proverbial lights at the end of the tunnel. Neither of them dared to look back at their pursuer as they made an all-out sprint for the exit. There was a final dark flash before they reached the exterior. The water was flowing as fast as their heartbeats were pounding as they saw it descend in a huge waterfall towards a glistening black lake far below. The moonlight was all that revealed it for what is was, illuminating what would otherwise appear to be an unmoving expanse of asphalt.

Saya looked left, then right… and saw the helicopter prepped and ready to take them away. The pilot inside had been adjusting some settings when he spotted them and began to raise his hand to signal them over. However, before he could complete the gesture he seemed to see something behind them and pointed their way.

She ran towards the transport, already knowing who it was that he was pointing at as she glanced behind her- and saw nothing.

"What?" She wondered while turning to face towards the helicopter, and seeing the pilot now dead, his neck broken. Beside the vehicle, holding the door open and glaring back at them as he retracted his free arm was none other than Alessandro. Saya winced as she got Diva behind her, wondering what, if anything, she could do now.

"There's no way we would make it back down the tunnel and to another transport. Even if we could they've probably already left." She thought.

Within the tunnel she could hear the voice tell them they had three minutes until detonation. Saya glanced over the side of the moonlit cliff and saw that it was too far down for Diva to jump in the physical state she was in now.

Drawing her sword, Saya faced off with Alessandro, who seemed too angry to even move. Saya was unable to move as well, but it was due to how intimidating he was when in this state. It was as if she were a deer caught in a corner, staring into the glaring, ferocious eyes of a hungry wolf. Sweat ran down from her forehead as the moment finally ended and a blue blur moved past her. At first she thought it was Diva, who had somehow regained her powers. But then she saw that it was the wounded Haji who had leapt into battle.

"Saya! Get out of here! I can only hold him off for a second!"

She cursed inwardly, knowing that Alessandro wouldn't let him get away with just a battering this time and looked for anywhere that they might descend the cliff. She and Diva's hair blew about in the gale that had descended upon them as they drew near to the cliff's edge.

To their side Haji was thrown into the cliff-face as Alessandro began to tread towards them. Saya cursed out loud as her searching grew more frantic and her hold on the sword grew stronger. Her chevalier attacked the chiropteran king once more and the black-eyed man erupted.

"_Get out of my way you worthless piece of shit!" _He howled before turning about and hurtling Haji into the rotor of the helicopter.

Saya couldn't watch and pulled Diva to the edge of the cliff as Alessandro drew closer- and she felt air beneath her feet. Time seemed to slow and she turned back towards her sister. Diva stood facing Alessandro. She'd drawn herself up; unafraid of her fate despite the fact she had no hope with her powers suppressed. Saya reached out for her sister, who glanced back at her and smiled sadly. That was the last she saw of Diva as she descended towards the water below, screaming her sister's name until she was overwhelmed in liquid blackness.


	27. Of What Remains

It had been over three months since the Red Shield's facility was compromised and annihilated. Since then, no chiropteran attacks had shown up on the remnants' radar. The organization had taken a huge hit; virtually all of the combat-ready members of Red Shield had staffed the facility and most of them were now either confirmed dead or missing in action. A few surviving operatives had reported to the remnants' new headquarters, but it was just enough maintain security against humans; they wouldn't even amount to much of a _distraction_ against a chiropteran, let alone be capable of _neutralizing_ one.

The good news was that Joel, Luis, Kai and David all reached their transports and escaped safely. And while it took a few weeks, they managed to regroup at what would eventually become the organization's new headquarters. Further, Joel's fortune was able to ensure that they still had decent technology with which to work. But all the plasma screens in the world wouldn't be of any use so long as their real-life capabilities remained as they were. With that being said, the remnants of the Red Shield continued on with the same mission as they always had. The main difference now was that they did so without hope.

Joel sat at his desk, the same expensive hardwood brand he was used to, and gazed at the report upon its varnished top. The report, a quantitative gathering of qualitative data, conveyed a very simple reality; Saya, Diva and Haji had still not been found. It was a little over three months later, now, and they didn't even have proof that any of them were still alive.

_"Our situation is desperate. If option D didn't kill Alessandro, and if he is still active, Saya and Diva are the only ones who would have a chance at killing him."_

As Joel contemplated their situation, he sighed. It was a habit with which he had become increasingly familiar. The man was capable of consulting with generals of various nations' militaries, and had the finances to single-handedly promote a specific advance in technology. And yet for all of his capital and fame, Joel Goldschmidt knew that there was almost nothing he could do to make the situation better… until Saya and Diva returned.

_"Alessandro went after them, and with the state they were in, I doubt either of them could have put up much of a fight. Without the usual advantage of Saya's blood, I don't know how they could have managed to survive. But they must have. Neither of them could have gone through so much just to die so simply." _

The only suggestion that they hadn't all been destroyed in the blast was that the helicopter that had been at the end of their tunnel was confirmed to have touched down elsewhere beyond the blast radius. However, the pilot had been unreachable and there was no evidence which suggested either of the twins had been in helicopter when it landed.

Joel wanted to be optimistic. It was the only healthy thing one could do when facing such a dangerous enemy and being so close to extinguishing its influence on the world. But the new threat that they faced was not the kind that humans could directly confront. What remained of the Red Shield had the same role in the elimination of antagonistic chiropterans as it always had; gather intelligence, facilitate transport and living space for Saya, and perhaps most importantly, be there whenever she needed them. There was no reason to expect a human to be capable of protecting Saya or Diva from Alessandro. Despite that fact, he couldn't help but feel like both he and his organization had failed them. Now all they could do was wait and hope that the twins would return. But with every moment and every day that passed, that hope was dwindling more and more.

"Where could you be?" Joel asked the empty room while wondering, wherever Saya was, if she was still alive

* * *

At the same time Joel was in his office, wondering about Saya's whereabouts, she was in fact alive. Though that wasn't saying much. Alessandro hadn't plucked her from the ocean and taken her back to a torture chamber. Nor had she been annihilated by the blast originating within the facility. But her real fate wasn't exactly picturesque either. The problem with leaping off a cliff into the ocean, being carried off by the tide, and then drifting with the waves is quite an obvious one; if you have no idea of where to go, and no means by which to travel effectively, you are essentially helpless. It was true that Saya couldn't die as a result of drowning or the coldness of the water. Still, she was stuck in an environment which could quickly carry her miles in any direction, constantly changing, with no indication as to where land might be. In this way Saya was not all that unlike a human.

As the girl drifted through freezing waters, barely surviving off the natural strength of her chiropteran heritage, her mind had faded. At first the girl had swam determinedly in one direction or another, sure that she would find an island or rock outcropping, or perhaps even a ship that might be passing by. However, the months of going without blood, of not knowing the fates of Diva, or Haji, or Kai, or any of her friends, and the other purely physical aspects of her environment had taken their toll. Like a torture victim whose mind had been overwhelmed by physical and psychological pain, Saya was constantly bordering the realm between consciousness and unconsciousness. If she had been left to her own devices the girl would have eventually retained enough water to sink beneath the waves and eventually settle down on the ocean bottom. The only thing that would sustain her would be her near-immortality.

But it was the most unexpected thing that resulted in her salvation, or at the very least, the restoration of her mind and will. Saya had felt the fins of fish many times in her voyage across the ocean, though most of the marine animals were kept at bay by fear for her species. So when she felt an actual hand grasp her wrist and then touch her face, the girl began to wonder if she was finally experiencing physical hallucinations. Fortunately for her, that wasn't the case. Saya had stopped counting on someone happening upon her several weeks ago, but that Diva would not only be alive but also come for her and _find _her hadn't even crossed her mind the first day.

The girl's grip was delicate, or perhaps just weak, but despite the crashing waves she could clearly make out Diva's swirling mane of black hair, and her bright blue eyes. It was nighttime, but the moon was mostly full. It's soft white light made Diva's eyes seem brighter than normal, and somehow Saya's mind came back from the brink and she smiled, despite the pain extending her cracked lips caused her. She was certain that Diva's sacrifice on her part would have resulted in the girl's death. How her twin had managed to find her in the middle of the ocean was beyond her current attention span. She was just happy that her sister was alive and that they were together. She felt renewed strength in her limbs, but held onto Diva so as to remain afloat as they swam. Despite being the older of the two, she felt like the weak link between them. Regardless, Diva held her tight as they swam.

* * *

There was a strategy meeting in Joel's room, which was a fancy way of saying that Luis, David and Kai were in there sitting in chairs in front of his desk. They were waiting for information on Saya's whereabouts. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything more to tell them than last time; they had no idea what her situation was.

The group sat in a depressed silence which, like Joel's sighing, had become a familiar experience in recent times. It was even worse that they were wallowing in guilt over the matter, but truth be told, there was little else that they could do. Short of dropping a nuclear bomb on top of Alessandro's head, there wasn't much they could do in the battle against him. He was a social ghost, meaning that he left neither a paper nor a digital trail wherever he went. Further, with his abilities he would be able to escape their reach even if they _did _have something that could actually cause him harm.

"Isn't there a way to scan the oceans with some kind of sonar that can tell the difference between a chiropteran and other species or something?" Kai presented. It was a creative idea, and one that most might not expect from the young man.

"Were it possible to scan a vast area from the point of the signal's origin, that might be useful. However, to build a device that could even distinguish between different offshoots of the same genus would take years of research. To develop one that could differentiate between entirely different species would take possibly decades, and then there is the matter of increasing its range. Finally, we would have to shrink them down enough so that we could mass produce them… I'm afraid that, as a short-term solution, that just isn't a viable option."

The enthusiasm lessened for a few moments before Luis tried to revive it.

"Do you think that perhaps she might have ended up in some manner of fishing town in a third-world country? Or maybe an uncharted island?"

Joel sighed and pushed himself away from his desk. It helped him feel like there was more breathing room.

"That is a definite possibility. The problem, once again, is the vast scale of the ocean. Given the amount of time they could have been lost at sea, even if we managed to find out which general direction the tide would lead them in, it would be beyond difficult to locate their general area."

It was sobering to the others that Joel would specifically refer to the possibility that both Diva and Saya were alive. Kai hadn't forgotten about the black sheep twin either, and he felt bad for having thought more about Saya than her. But he still considered Saya his sister, and even though Diva showed that she could be saved, his heart would always have a bigger place for Saya, no matter what.

"We might not want to think about it, but there is the possibility that Saya is dead."

There was a noticeable atmosphere of surprise, even though no one actually said anything.

"I know that we have always relied on Saya, and I continue to believe in her. But I think she would want us to consider all possibilities, rather than hold out for her if Diva were to return instead." Joel finished.

"But can we rely on her without Saya's influence?" David asked.

"She wasn't exactly emotionally stable during her stay at the facility in the mountains." Luis added.

"There isn't even any guarantee that she would return to us, now. Diva might suspect that we would try to medicate her again. It would be a fair suspicion on her part." Joel finally admitted.

The room went completely silent, the kind of dead silence that allowed you to hear your own heartbeat.

"I don't think Diva would run away from us, or that she would try to attack us. I think she would come back." Kai ultimately voiced.

"What makes you say that, Kai?" Joel asked him when he didn't continue.

The young man looked up into his eyes before looking away.

"I'm not saying the girl would want to put on a Red Shield t-shirt or anything, but if she survived and lost track of Saya I think she would probably come to us the first chance she got as a way of getting back in touch with her. And if Saya didn't make it… I'm sure that she would come to us so that we could help her find Alessandro and kill the bastard. That's just how her mind works. I think so, anyway."

* * *

It was a strange sensation to have been floating for so long, and yet now feel something solid beneath her back. Saya felt as if she were going to fall off such an unbalanced substance, and yet it also made her world feel more assured. The concrete had returned to reality, and it helped bring the world back into perspective. She didn't know when or how they had ended up on the rock outcropping, but knew that it had all been thanks to Diva.

Saya sat up, with not a small degree of effort, and gazed in her sister's direction. The girl was gazing at a just barely rising sun; a cliché and yet unsurprising act, considering it was Diva that was taking part in such a thing. Most of her hair was too heavy from the length and water to blow with the wind, but a few of the bangs on her forehead still caught the breeze. Her sister's hair had grown longer, and Saya suspected that hers had as well. But now wasn't exactly the time to worry about getting their split ends taken care of. They had survived, so far, but they were in no shape to do anything more. Still, despite the situation, Diva's tired face was smiling as if there were some innately positive element of their current situation that made the matter better. Their mere existence was cause for rejoice, but she imagined her sister had something else on her mind. Regardless, she couldn't help but ask, "How did you find me?" and Diva looked amused, as if she had expected Saya to say that.

"I could feel you; it was difficult, but I just swam in whatever direction felt right. I had nothing if not time on my side, and eventually I knew that I would find you."

Such inhuman patience was to be expected of Diva when something was important to her, but Saya had underestimated her. One of these days she might learn to take in her sister's personality at a faster pace, but for now Saya was content with knowing her sister loved her enough to continue a search for three months.

"It was very difficult at first; that drug they gave me didn't wear off until a few days in. After that, I was able to manage better. Once I found you I searched for a place to rest. Luckily, I found this little haven for us."

The "haven" of which Diva spoke was a rock outcropping which probably only took up about two or three yards in any direction. Fortunately for them, that was enough. But to find such a thing in the middle of ocean was unheard of; rocks strong enough to resist seawater don't just stack up over time of their own accord. When Saya conveyed such a point to her, Diva gestured over her shoulder. Saya turned her weary body and saw an island in the distance. It was probably around two or three miles away, at least, but they had sight of something big enough to walk around on.

"I wanted to give you time to rest before trying for it. Though I suppose I also wanted to watch the sunrise. I didn't take the time when I was searching for you."

As she took in Diva's words, Saya caught sight of her legs for the first time; her normally statuesque porcelain limbs now displayed veins across their entirety as if she had been squatting a heavy weight for days on end. It hadn't occurred to the elder twin just how hard her younger sister had pushed herself in order to make the journey to where they were now. Saya was still for a few moments before she struggled to her hands and knees and crawled over to Diva. She hugged her sister, and the girl hugged her back. It felt nice at first, until, with a shiver, Saya noted only one arm hugged her back. Diva seemed to notice and backed away.

"Oh, that. I lost it before ending up in the ocean. I never swam before that, but I imagine it would be a lot easier to swim with two." She responded with a small smile. Saya admired the girl's strength, but found hers too low to manage such a positive reaction to something so terrible. She started to cry. Then she pulled Diva back to her. It was hard to tell, but she thought Diva was crying too.


End file.
